#i always loved the way Kate said 'you do hate me' almost as if she was reminding her

[mysunshinetemptress]

Leah Williamson x Royal!Reader

Disclaimer: I’m sorry it’s taken so long I hated the first draft so deleted it and went again. It’s not my best but I’ve been so busy with college that I wanted to give you something cause you guys have been waiting ages

The media coverage on the run up to the wedding had been enormous, so much so both you and Leah found it difficult to leave Kensington Palace as swarms of people either the media or fans had gathered just past the gates. You where nervous if Leah saw this all becoming to much and decided to call the wedding off, she was a private person one who had been allowed to live a private life along with her professional career up until you had both been spotted on your fifth date, after that it seems as though the floodgates had opened and although you had tried to close them for her you couldn’t.

Both your family as well as Leah’s had all been arriving in to London getting ready to go out to one final dinner before you became a married couple. You had attended a dinner a few nights ago held in you apartment in Kensington palace with all your friends, this meant all of Leah’s Arsenal teammates as well as England teammates international friends from different teams as well as her hometown friends and others she had picked up along the way, while your circle was much smaller always being conscious of picking the right friends ones who loved you for you and not your title. That didn’t mean you had any less of a good time then Leah you had clicked with her friends so effortlessly the first you had met that she almost always swore she would have married you on the spot each time.

The dinner with your family’s wasn’t much different only it was held in Buckingham palace. Leah’s family included both her parents, brother Aunts and Uncles as well cousins, at this dinner you seemed to have had the bigger circle with you Father and his wife, both your brothers and their wives and then your Aunts and Uncles as well as all your cousins and their partners. You had been ever so gracious though and although Leah’s family had met yours many times over the royal protocol had always been a difficult thing to grasp for anyone who wasn’t born into and so you had stayed by Leah and her family’s side giving them signals of when to do things as well as what to call everyone, that was until the alcohol was brought out and all the protocols went out the window, you smiled leaning back into Leah watching your family’s get on so well, relaxed after showing themselves instead of the stuffy upperclass family they could be in the public eye.

The days suddenly began to feel more real as the last of the preparations for the wedding had finished, Windsor Castle was set to welcome another wedding and the buzz around the Uk had begun to grow, Leah would show you the videos family and friends sent her of you both on coffee cups, masks of your faces and flags to which you would both laugh and tell each other that you would get it for Christmas.

Two days out from the wedding you rang you brother in a panic, it was the middle of the night and Leah slept peacefully as you paced the floor of the living room crying down the phone as fear set in “what if this is all to much for her Will what if she realises how heavy this family is what if she doesn’t love me enough to see past that.” William had tried and failed to calm you down he had been telling you over and over that Leah did in fact love you as well as wouldn’t just leave you but nothing seemed to work until your sister in law took the phone from him. “Y/n love it’s Kate. I need you to breath for me ok and then tell me what’s going on.” You let out a breath sighing before telling her what you had just told Will “oh Y/n, I know it’s hard and I know you worry that she doesn’t love you or that all of this is to much for her but she loves you just as much as you love her, you have shown her from the beginning if she said the word you would drop everything and stand back, you have shown her that if she wants to live this life with you you would be there with her every step of the way. Leah wants to marry you because she loves you, because she knows that no matter how big of a role she is stepping into that you are with her every minute ok.” You let out a quite ok before jumping feeling arms wrap around you “Thank you both of you I’m so sorry I woke you up I’ll see you soon.” Kate smiled “no problem that’s what we are here for goodnight Y/n.” Leah restated her cheek on your shoulder “what’s wrong baby.” You relaxed into her hold “My head was so loud, I’m sorry I didn’t want to wake you.” Leah shook her head turning you around “don’t apologise talk to me I’m here for you no matter what time the clock reads.” “I feel really stupid because I know you love me I do but I worry that this is all to much.” Leah looked at you eyes soft “what is all to much my love.” You felt the tears well up in your eyes “this life, the constant struggle of being a family and an institution, the wait of the crown.” Leah sighed whipping your cheeks free of tears “ with you nothing is to much ever, I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me if I didn’t know what I was walking into and I definitely wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t think we could get through this together.” You nodded pulling back “it’s me and you my girl we have talked about this and if I have to remind you till your old and grey I will ok.” You couldn’t help but pull her into tight resting your head in the crook of her neck “me and you.” You stayed like that a while longer before Leah squeezed you “let’s get to bed.” You nodded before pulling her hand “I want to ask you something first.” Leah nodded pulling you to the couch “anything.” You let out a breath before talking “your achievements both in your professional career and in your career off the pitch in making sure women have a voice and expanding the game, they are your own achievements.” Leah nodded slightly confused “I….Papa wants to give us a dukedom. It’s a title every child of the monarch gets should they wish for it.” Leah squeezed your hand telling you to continue “I don’t want it.” “Y/n you can’t stand back you….what this is crazy you are the voice of so much change and good in this world.” You shook your head “I’m not standing back, I am simply not letting your achievements that you have worked so hard on be over shadowed by a title, you can’t choose if they give us a dukedom you can’t voice your opinions the way you do now and I’m scared they might ask you to stop playing and I don’t want that for you not for a long time, you have so much left to do but if my father gives us a title like that it won’t work in our favour.” Leah finally understood, you where looking out for her once again in a world she didn’t know much about. “Are you sure.” You nodded “I am.” Leah pulled you in for a kiss “ok then talk to him and tell him, I don’t know how much support I will be but I have your back on this ok.” You nodded pulling her up into another kiss before heading to bed.

The day before the wedding you found yourself sat on the kitchen counter writing emails as Leah stood in between your legs tracing soft patters on your back “are you nearly done, I want to spend the next few hours we have left cuddled on the couch.” You hummed pressing a kiss to her head “one more and then you get me until September my love.” Leah sighed resting her head on your chest “fine but the cars coming to pick me up in five hours.” You rolled your eyes at her whining before pressing send and kissing her “all done my love let’s go.”

You stood out in the courtyard talking to Amanda as you waited on Leah to come down with the last of her things to spend the night in the hotel “what time do you leave.” You sighed looking at your watch “an hour tops, I wanted to give you guys enough time to clear before I left didn’t need you guys getting followed.” Amanda nodded “nervous.” You smiled at the older woman “about marrying Le no, about all the people watching yes .” Amanda took your hand “they all fade away the minute you meet her at the alter I promise you will be so wrapped up in each other you won’t realise how many people or cameras there are.” You sighed nodding. Amanda looked at you worriedly “Y/n are you sure your ok.” You let her eyes your own filling with tears “You have been the mum I never got to have, and I never say it enough how thankful I am but I hope you don’t mind that I have looked at you like a mother figure since Leah and I started dating.” Amanda pulled you into a hug “oh love I don’t mind I love you like you where my own and I have since Leah brought you home all those years ago.” You squeezed her tight “I love you too.” The moment was ruined when Leah came running out the door “ok so I think I have everything if not don’t care…hey I want to get in on the group hug.” Both you and Amanda laughed pulling away as you whipped your cheeks “no time I’m afraid my love you are late.” Leah looked at you eyebrows pushed together in worry at your red eyes “you ok.” You nodded quickly “I’m not sad don’t worry just emotional but that’s ok now go so I can marry your gorgeous ass sooner.” Leah laughed pulling you into a heavy kiss “I love you.” You nodded “I love you.”

You stood in corridor staring at a painting of your grandparents “that is probably my favourite painting of them together.” You hummed “they talked about this day ever since you came home going on and on about a blonde girl from Milton Keynes, your Granny had approved of this wedding the minute she met Leah and saw how happy she made you, made me promise I would never tell you not to marry her, my response was by god do you think I’m crazy people that in love kept apart well it’s only ever been written by Shakespeare and it doesn’t end well.” You couldn’t help but laugh “death is a bit extreme papa I would have simply ran away.” Charles laughed “our lives are mostly laid out for us in this world we live in whether we know it or not..my great grandfather was an example when his brother abdicated he was thrusted into a role he was never fully prepared for and one your grandmother is so certain killed him.. the knock on effect was that his line of succession became us..my mother was told from then on that all decisions she thought she was allowed to make would be no more and that she couldn’t just marry any man she had once hoped for.. although she always states it worked out in the end and she ended up living a long happy life with your grandfather by her side.” Charles paused trying to gain your reaction “I am simply king by accident of birth most would say.. our family belief is that god himself has placed me here because I am the only one at this current moment of time strong enough to convey his message to his people.” You scoffed at this, you loved your family but that belief was completely backwards and it was something you had been taught to keep your mouth shut over since you where a child “that meant I myself had to marry right and ultimately I left and the woman I loved couldn’t wait for me. Your mother was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.” You turned facing your father now “she was absolutely breathtaking and it was a plus she came from an aristocratic family as well as her soft nature that won us all over and I knew she would be the one that would help me carry this weight, but we where so different and I realised that although she was breathtaking and kind and a wonderful mother and no matter how much I tried to convince myself I only ever loved her.” Your father turned looking at you as you stated back at him with soft eyes “but I was never in love with her, and for that I am always sorry, she lived no one should ever have to and I am partial to blame as well as those photographs but I am not sorry for the nights we shared together blissfully loved up in one another’s presence Y/n I need you to know that our greatest achievements where our three children and although one of us is here physically to witness this she is just as proud to watch you fall in love, to marry someone who is equally as in love as you someone who makes you laugh uncontrollably that we all stop just to listen, she is at peace knowing you are all happy, we both are at peace.” You took your fathers hand staring at him eyebrows creased together “ I never got to know her and it is something that has always effected my ability to feel how much she loved me, but this entire experience the run up to the wedding to how it will happen tomorrow has shown me that I have always been loved by her just as much as Will and Harry, I don’t hold it against you papa it’s not your fault you couldn’t love her it’s not hers either your heart simply beat for Camilla and I am happy you got that happy ending and now in some way I feel like Mum gets hers too come tomorrow at 1pm she does anyway.” Charles placed a kiss to your hand patting it gently “I wish you both a life time of happiness and that no matter how dark some days may seem to be just know that you have a friend crawling through that tunnel with you trying to get to the same light and it’s always easier if you work together.” You nodded “goodnight papa.” Charles smiled “goodnight peach.”

Leah stud fixing her cuff links on her left a gold cannon and on her right a crown both representing her beloved football team and the other the royal she was most definitely in love with. Jacob knocked on her door “eh mum said you needed something blue for the wedding so here.” Leah looked at her brother shocked “get that way no way in hell am I using anything with that stupid bird on it no no way not funny.” Jacob laughed “I’m sorry I had to, here Y/n said this should do.” Leah looked down at blue ticket “Jacob what is this.” Jacob smiled at his older sister “it’s the parking ticket to London Colony the day you both first met, she said for today you could borrow it since she guessed you wouldn’t have anything else.” Leah looked up at her brother shocked “how…what I can’t believe she has this.” Jacob smiled nodding “quite the romantic wife you got there.” Leah couldn’t taker her eyes off the ticket whispering out a quite yeah.

You stood fixing the tiara that sat on her head before looking at her brothers “what.” Harry shook his head “nothing it’s just you look so much like Mum it’s crazy.” You smiled at him “you think.” William nodded “we do.” There was a knock on the door as James still his head through “Miss Williamson has left for the chapel, it’s now or never your royal highness.” You turned to your brothers “ready.” You nodded picking up your dress “yep.”

Leah stood at the later of St George’s chapel Jacob standing just behind her as she looked at her family in the pews before straightening up as here comes as a classical version of Can’t help falling in love played through the chapel. The song had been chosen as a way to tie in The Queen and Prince Philip after you both found them dancing to it during a late night wonder around Balmoral Castle. Leah felt her lip trembling as she watched your nieces and nephews walk down ahead of you waving to them smiling as she waved them off before freezing as she caught your eye, your father walking beside you proud as ever as your brothers held the back of your dress gently. Leah quickly lifted her hand up to clear the stray tear as she smiled your father before looking back at you “hi.” You smiled at her softly before she quickly burst into tears again. You pulled her softly into letting her rest her head in your neck “I would cry too but I can’t remember if they put the waterproof mascara on and I really don’t fancy having to get through this looking like a panda.” Leah laughed sniffling as she pulled her head back up apologising softly. The Archbishop looked at you both making sure you where ready before he began “We are gathered here today to witness the greatest love story to grace us in nearly a century, who gives this bride away.” Charles stepped forward “I do.” Charles reached over taking Leah’s hand before placing it in yours “Congratulations to you both.” You smiled “thank you papa.” Charles stood back patting your brothers as they took up their grooms men posts behind you.

Amanda had been right the minute you locked eyes with Leah the world had vanished and the friends and family who had gathered to watch had simply disappeared “I missed you.” Leah whispered as you both sat watching the Archbishop hands never letting go of one another “Le it wasn’t even 24 hours.” Leah smiled “yes but every second away from you is torture.” You smiled squeezing her hand “Did you get my surprise.” Leah turned eyes full of love “you surprise me everyday and make me fall more in love with you every second your incredible.” You smiled “and I’m about to be your wife.” You both stood in front of the Archbishop as he finished his speech “repeat after me I Leah Cathrine , take The Y/n Margaret Elizabeth Victoria to be my lawfully wedded wife in for richer for poor, in sickness and in health. Till death do us part.” Leah sighed placing the ring on your hand repeating the words as her eyes never left yours. “I Y/n Margaret Elizabeth Victoria take the Leah Cathrine to be my lawfully wedded Wife in for rich or poor in sickness and in health till death do us part.” Your hand shakes slightly as you slide the ring on to Leah’s hand looking up as she squeezed it “your ok.” You nodded repeating the words “well I now pronounce you Wife and Wife you may now kiss the bride. Leah didn’t hesitate scooping you into her arms before kiss you hungrily. Leah let you go as the chapel erupted into cheers but you couldn’t take your eyes off each other.

You curtsied to your father before making your way back down the isle to the front steps of the chapel to crowds applauding, you waved smiling at them before Leah pulled you into another kiss “hey.” Leah laughed “just giving the crowd what they wanted.” You made your way down the steps getting into the carriage as you both left the grounds making your way through Windsor waving at people before turning up the long walk. “Have I told you how gorgeous you are.” Leah smiled at you “I don’t believe so.” You laughed “oh I’m so sorry worst wife ever “you look absolutely gorgeous my love.” You smiled resting your head slightly on her shoulder “you are the best wife one could ask for my darling.”

Heading through the gates the public part of the day was over as you headed into the main hall to spend the rest of the day with your guests. You had both mingled Leah making sure your where in arms reach at any given moment as your guests congratulated you both on your day as well as wished you look to the future. Finally it was time for your first dance and you couldn’t help but become nervous as you held Leah’s hand making your way to the dance floor. Leah turned flipping off her friends as they began to whistle in delight, Georgia shouting out “Keep it PG Le yeah.” You laughed as Leah pulled you close just before Can’t take my eyes off of you by Frankie Valli.

The night raged on a lot more and became something of a scene once the children had been sent to bed you hadn’t seen the lionesses drink like this since they won the Euros, yourself and Leah on the other hand had decided not to drink anymore scared of forgetting the day. At 5am the hall had finally cleared out leaving just you and your wife swaying to Stand by Me by Ben E King. “This has been the best day of my life you know.” You hummed your head in her shoulder “I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with you.” You lifted your head “I can’t believe it either but there was never going to be anyone else.” Leah pulled you into a kiss humming softly “I love you.” You kissed Leah passionately “I know but I loved you first.” Leah couldn’t help but smile “Well I get to love you last.” Leah kissed you again and you would never admit it but you loved this back and forth“Hmm promise.” Leah nodded energetically “I promise to love you till the stars come calling, it’s me and you my girl even after we become simple sparks in the sky.” You pulled apart “I don’t want the night to end in fear that it wasn’t real.” Leah shook her head “if we go to bed now then we get to wake up wives.” You laughed pulling her in for one more kiss “ok Mrs Williamson take me to the Bedroom.” Leah laughed “Gladly Mrs Williamson.”

[hard-core-super-star]

bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire [K.Bishop]

pairing: vampire!kate bishop x reader

summary: a failed mugging leads to you discovering kate's biggest secret...and her finding out yours.

warnings: yes, i still suck at summaries, shhh SMUT -> minors, you know the drill, walk away now [porn with almost too much plot; blood and fangs and all the stereotypically hot vampire things; so many neck kisses it should be illegal; fingering {R receiving}; kate being a tease and owning it; praise + degradation + two seconds of humiliation]

wordcount: 3.3k

a/n: do i have like ten requests sitting in my inbox rn? yes. was this idea going to leave me alone if i didn't write it? no. i've been trying to finish this fic since JULY, GUYS, AND I NEED IT OUT OF MY DRAFTS AND INTO THE WORLD! it wasn't supposed to be smut, but i couldn't help it. i don't think i'll have time to do any real kinktober-type fics so enjoy this little treat instead. ALSO, a lot of the vampire dynamics/lore in this fic was inspired by first kill so go check it out if you haven't seen it.

* * * * * * *

You were working yet another late night at Bishop Security. A normal occurrence considering your boss’s distaste for coming into the office when the sun is high in the sky. She almost never comes in before 3 PM and almost always stays in until way past midnight.

Pretty much everyone who works for her hates her unusual schedule, claiming she’s way too new to her position to be slacking off so much. Everyone seems to share that view…everyone except you since being her secretary means you get to share her schedule.

Which conveniently means you get to sleep in most days.

She’s never offered an explanation, not that you’ve ever tried asking her about it, but the rumor swirling around is that she’s too busy partying and sleeping around to bother showing up at the office at a regular time.

You don’t doubt the validity of that rumor but you’re also sure it’s not the whole story. There have been times when Kate has forced you to leave at 2 AM while she’s stayed behind to write up a report or prepare for her next meeting.

She’s young and reckless and way too rich for her own good but she’s not completely irresponsible or arrogant. Unfortunately, the media loves making up stories about the ‘Tony Stark of Bishop Security’ almost as much as your co-workers love gossiping.

Maybe if those rumors held more truth to them you wouldn’t be where you are right now: speed-walking out of the building and trying to make it to your car before something bad happens. You’re aware of the irony of working at a security company yet being terrified of walking through the parking lot. But hey! It’s New York City, your fears are more than valid.

You’re too busy arguing with yourself about said irony to notice the person sneaking up behind you until they forcefully grab your shoulder and slam you into the nearest concrete wall. The force of the push forces all the air out of your lungs, leaving you unprepared for the right hook your attacker throws your way.

The ringing in your ears is the only thing you can focus on for a few seconds. You see their mouth moving and you’re barely able to make out the name ‘Kate Bishop’ before they raise their fist again. You squeeze your eyes shut and wait for the punch to land.

Except it never does.

Your eyes snap open right as your shoulders are grabbed again but this time, the person standing in front of you is none other than Kate Bishop herself. “Hey, hey, it’s alright. Just focus on me. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” You’re pretty sure the pounding in your chest has more to do with the proximity between the two of you than your leftover fear after being attacked. “I just got pushed around a little.”

“More like punched around,” she says with a small chuckle.

“That’s not funny.” Despite your words, a noticeable smile spreads along your face.

Kate’s eyes trail down your face and hone in on your lips. The sudden attention makes you subconsciously lick your lips and a slightly metallic taste fills your mouth. You assume the look on her face is due to her concern over you until you notice the way her pupils dilate as blood gathers on your bottom lip.

“Um…Kate? Are you okay?”

Your voice seems to bring her back to the present moment. She leans back a little before she speaks again. “Yeah, we should probably get out of here.”

You hear her words but your gaze is glued right to her mouth and the two protruding teeth you’re pretty sure you’ve never seen before. For a second, you think you’re imagining things but it’s practically impossible to deny what you’re seeing with the way the light bounces off of her teeth.

You had always thought Kate was hiding something. Something that ran deeper than her long list of ex-lovers or weird schedules. But the place your mind is going to right now seems far too illogical. Superheroes, aliens, even the damn multiverse, everything else seemed much more plausible than vampires.

And yet, the proof is staring right at you with caring blue eyes and a nervous smile that tells you you’re both thinking about the same thing.

“I can explain,” she assures you before extending her hand out for you to take. “But you’re gonna have to come with me.”

“You’re insane.”

She shrugs, not at all phased by your comment. “Maybe a little…I promise I won’t bite.”

You don’t know whether to laugh at her joke or slap that look off her face for having the audacity to make it in the first place. Ultimately, your trust in her wins out and you reach for her hand. It’s just one small choice but you have a feeling it’s going to change everything between the two of you.

She starts to lead you toward her car, ignoring your protests like a real gentleman. You weren’t going to act like you had never imagined Kate taking you back to her apartment but you had imagined it under different, significantly sexier, circumstances.

You get into her car and ignore the way your heart is pounding in your chest. You tell yourself it’s only due to the leftover adrenaline from being attacked but you know it has more to do with the overwhelming smell of the archer than anything else.

A few minutes of silence pass before you work up the courage to start a conversation…even though you know you’re not going to like any of the answers you’re searching for. “What do you think that guy wanted?”

“What guy?” Kate’s eyes remain glued to the road ahead, not giving you a chance to decipher the look on her face. “The one who tried to mug you?”

“He wasn’t trying to mug me, he was looking for you.”

You notice the way her jaw clenches even with the darkness that envelops the car. “Looking for me? What are you talking about?”

“Kate, don’t play stupid with me. You can’t possibly think he broke into a highly secured parking lot just to mug the first random secretary he saw.” Her silence is enough of an answer. “So, who is he and what does he want with you?”

“I can’t tell you that. It’ll only put you in more danger.”

“More danger than that?”

“Yes.” You’re sure you’ve never heard her sound so serious before. “Believe it or not, you finding out about this wasn’t in my plans.”

You’re going to regret asking but your mind has been whirling with thoughts and ideas since you first caught sight of those fangs. “What exactly is…’this’?”

“Exactly what you think it is.”

Her tone leaves no room for questions or arguments. Despite that, the only thing that fills your mind is questions. And answers you don’t want to think about.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she says, effectively cutting off your flurry of thoughts.

“Why?”

The hunger on her face when she turns to look at you tells you all you need to know. You should probably be scared considering the power she holds over you right now. Not only is she the one driving, she could probably crush you with her bare hands…or sink her sharp fangs into your neck and drain you dry.

Fear is certainly not what you feel at that thought though.

The corners of her mouth quirk up into the cockiest smirk you’ve ever seen. “You’re into some weird stuff, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

“What else are you?” The way you shift in your seat doesn’t go unnoticed by the brunette. “Some kind of mind reader?”

“No need,” she replies. “Your scent gave you away.”

Your face heats up at her words but you’re not sure if it’s from embarrassment or something else. Thankfully, she pulls up to her apartment complex before you can dig yourself into a deeper hole.

A weirdly comfortable silence surrounds you as you make your way out of the car and into her apartment. You’ve known Kate for a while and you’ve always felt safe around her, something that not even those sharp fangs can take away. Especially when she places a strong hand on the small of your back while she leads the way.

For someone who’s richer than most people will ever be in their whole life, her apartment isn’t extremely lavish or full of ridiculous decorations. It could even be considered minimalistic if it weren’t for the numerous bows scattered all over the living room, the chewed-up boots near Lucky’s dog bed, and the overwhelming amount of clothes piled up on the couch.

“Sorry, I don’t usually have people over,” she says almost as if reading your mind. “I’m not usually so messy.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie, Katherine.”

She makes a disgusted face at the sound of her full name, her expression somewhere between adorable and amusing. “You didn’t have to say it like that.”

You’re about to make another stupid comment when your brain short circuits at the sight of Kate unbuttoning her shirt, the black tank top she always wears underneath straining against her torso and all the muscles you know are hiding out of sight.

The corners of her mouth quirk up just enough to give away the fact that she knows exactly what she’s doing and she’s one-hundred percent doing it on purpose. You’re just grateful she doesn’t verbalize how obvious your breathlessness is.

You attempt to look away from her but she moves her arm just enough for you to notice the dark stain on her shirt. It takes you a second to figure out what it’s from and you mentally curse the brunette for not telling you she had gotten hurt.

“Kate,” you call out once you find your voice again. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” She looks down at her arm, clearly pretending she hadn’t noticed the wound yet, before shrugging her shoulders. “Oh, yeah, it’s fine.”

“Fine? Why didn’t you tell me you got stabbed?”

“It’s just a scratch.”

She tries to wave you off but it’s too late. You’re already gripping her shoulder and pushing her down onto her overpriced leather couch. “You’re an idiot. Sit down.”

She grumbles something about being able to take care of herself but you don’t listen to a word she says. Instead, your hands reach out for the first-aid kit she keeps on her coffee table.

“Take your shirt off.”

“y/n, if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask, baby.” Her voice carries that cocky tone that makes you want to punch her and kiss her at the same time.

“Shut up,” you mutter while attempting to look unaffected.

There are too many thoughts swirling around your brain and most of them have to do with Kate doing some very inappropriate things to you, with or without her fangs. The truth is, you can act like you’re only attracted to the danger that could potentially come your way now that you know her secret but she’s always been far too good at scrambling your brain with a few well-placed words.

She finally does what you ask, pushing her shirt off her shoulders and revealing inches of skin you’ve never seen from such close proximity before. You’re able to pass off your clear ogling as concern as you step closer to examine the small knife wound.

It’s only a few inches long but deep enough to have caused her to bleed the entire way here. You wordlessly open up the first-aid kit and start disinfecting the area, doing your best to ignore the soft groans that leave the brunette’s lips.

“Is all of that stuff true?” You ask a few minutes later, the smallest hint of a joke in your tone.

The corners of Kate’s mouth quirk up into a small smirk that tells you she knows exactly what you’re talking about. “What stuff?”

“You know, the stuff about silver and garlic and burning in the sun?”

“Yes to the silver, no to the garlic, and kind of to the sun. I sunburn really easily but I don’t think that’s due to the vampire thing.”

You laugh at her response, the sound nervous yet warm. It’s still too much to wrap your head around but at least she’s not beating around the bush anymore. “How long have you…?”

“All my life,” she replies with an almost inaudible wince as you start to bandage her up. “It’s a long, complicated story but my family and I are descendants of the first vampires to ever exist. We’re legacies.”

“Sounds fancy.”

She chuckles while she shakes her head. “It’s a pain in the ass.”

“I’m sure there are worse things to be.” 

You finish securing the bandage in place right as the words leave your lips. Now that there’s nothing to distract you, you realize how close together the two of you actually are. You’re standing right between Kate’s open legs, the heat of her body warming you up in ways that leave your legs shaky. 

“y/n, I…I’ve done a lot of things that-”

“You don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know any of that to know I trust you.”

She looks up at you, her usually bright eyes looking soft and vulnerable for the first time in a long time. It’s almost startling how quickly she changes from the cocky and overconfident Kate Bishop everyone knows to this gentle and hesitant version of herself.

A version of her you can't help but love.

Your feelings must be more than obvious by this point but she doesn't push. You've never known her to be slow or patient or particularly sensitive to what other people want and yet she waits.

The seconds feel like hours until her eyes finally drift down to your lips…and the small amount of blood that still coats them.

You shouldn’t be doing this.

The few brain cells that aren’t completely focused on the brunette in front of you tell you to move away from her before you cross a line you won’t be able to come back from. A line that is unprofessional and stupid and full of problems and rumors that will probably ruin your life. 

Unfortunately, crossing that line is the only thing that’s been on your mind since the day you started working for her. And the urge to find out what her lips taste like and what her hands feel like on your skin has only gotten stronger since.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotions you don’t want to think about.

You lean in closer, your breath fanning across her lips while you grab her hands and place them on your waist. “Please don’t stop.”

“y/n…” Her voice comes out somewhere between a whine and a groan. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

It’s unclear whether she’s talking about her vampire side or her serial heartbreaker side but you ignore her warning all the same. You’ve wanted her far too long to let something that seems so irrelevant right now stop you.

“I’ll be fine,” you assure her, letting her pull you close until you're finally sitting on her lap. “I only need you right now.”

The weight and warmth of your body on her lap causes her to take in a sharp breath, one that leaves no doubts about what it is she wants to do with you. “Fuck…”

She leans forward, completely ignoring your lips and instead moving her face toward your neck, her nose brushing against your skin and making your heart skip multiple beats. Her grip on your hips tightens and you swear you can feel the smirk that adorns her features right before she attaches herself to your neck.

Your head tilts back to allow her free access while you do your best not to grind against her. You fail miserably the second her fangs start to nip your skin. She doesn’t bite down hard enough to puncture your neck but the feeling has you desperately bucking your hips in search of relief anyway.

 “Kate-” You gasp out, your hands holding onto her arms for support.

She chuckles while one of her hands starts its journey down inside your jeans. “I know, sweetheart. I can smell how much you need me…how desperate you are to feel me inside you. I bet you can’t think about anything else right now.”

You’re not sure when it happened but her hesitation has clearly gone out the window by now. All that remains is the current of need that flows eagerly between your two bodies.

You let out a soft moan as her fingers dip inside your soaked underwear and find the mess she’s turned you into with a few teasing words and restrained kisses. “Please.”

“Such a good girl,” she murmurs. “How can I deny someone as sweet as you?”

Despite her words, she still doesn’t give you what you truly want. Instead, she presses two fingers against your throbbing clit and starts drawing small circles, her movements slow and calculated. Your hips move in response and you suddenly realize what it is she wants from you. 

There’s no time for whines or embarrassment, no time for anything except desire and desperation. 

You grind down on her fingers and let out a string of incoherent noises that leave Kate groaning into your neck. “Just like that, baby. Show me how much you want me.”

You do just as she asks, rolling your hips and relishing the non-stop kisses she lands on your overheated skin. Her teeth keep teasing you and it’s all you can do not to beg her to bite you hard enough to make you dizzy.

She told you earlier she wasn’t a mind reader but you’re about to call bullshit on that considering the way she picks up on all your dirty thoughts without a single word from you.

“I could drain you so easily right now. You’re so desperate you’d just let me, wouldn’t you? You’d let me sink my teeth into you so long as I kept fucking you, wouldn’t you?”

Your sounds of ecstasy should be more than an answer but they’re not enough for the brunette. She picks up the pace of her fingers and turns your brain to mush long enough for you to let out the truth.

“Yes! God, yes. Please- Don’t stop.”

“Good girl.”

She plants a few more kisses against your neck before she finally bites you. Hard. Hard enough to make your eyes squeeze shut and your legs tense up. The pain borders on unbearable until she starts sucking.

Your mind spins endlessly as all the different sensations overwhelm you. You’re not sure what to focus on but your body makes the decision for you. 

You gasp, although the sound comes out more like a whine than anything else, and Kate takes the hint. She plunges her fingers inside of you right as you fall over the edge, the tips curled just enough to hit that one spot that has you seeing stars that weirdly resemble the color of her eyes.

You’re shaking and panting and dizzier than ever but it all feels far too good. The pleasure and the pain roll together to give you the most intense orgasm you’ve ever had and you suddenly wonder how you lived so long without knowing such ecstasy existed.

Kate detaches herself from your neck right as the ringing in your ears fades. You open your eyes to the sight of her, pupils blown wide and her lips stained red. You subconsciously clench around her fingers and she smiles.

“I was right,” she says, her voice low and far too controlled for your liking. “You taste as delicious as you smell.”

You don’t waste another second attaching your lips to hers and drowning out all her cocky statements.

You end up spending the rest of the night getting to know Kate in ways you’d only ever dreamed about before, completely oblivious to the way word already starts spreading about your intimate encounter outside the walls of her apartment.

[leclerc-s]

paint the town red - part ten

THE GREAT ADMIN WAR

series masterlist

HUNGARY 2024

charles leclerc i'm sorry seb! you can't be mad at me.

sebastian vettel charles, you told the internet i had a crush on mark

charles leclerc but you did?

carlos sainz and you told them about his almost make-out with max.

ollie bearman we all saw that coming. i was around for mexico last year.

tony stark are you sleeping with the enemy leclerc?

charles leclerc no.

harley keener oh boy wait until this guy finds out who he is sleeping with

charles leclerc shut your fucking mouth keener!

tony stark i promised pepper i would stop being annoying

arthur leclerc WAIT- IS HE- OH MY GOD!

tony stark WHAT THE HELL DID YOU GET FROM THAT?

ollie bearman OH MY GOD! HOW IS HE THE GENIUS?

bianca stark-potts oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.

biancastark_potts posted new stories

me & bae

for context, this is what he sent me at 7:30 in the morning.

carol danvers added one person

wanda maximoff so he's bae now?

bianca stark-potts no? yelena belova she loooves him

kamala khan oh my god this is the best day of my life.

yelena belova that is a child.

carol danvers kamala is not a child.

queen shuri how old is she?

kamala khan i'm 16!

riri williams by the way, who's bianca seeing?

queen shuri charles

riri williams HER DRIVER?

natasha romanoff now that i think about he is exactly her type.

pepper potts goofy? michelle jones will most likely blush when she calls him a pet name? wanda maximoff flirts with his childhood rival? queen shuri green eyes? natasha romanoff exactly.

bianca stark-potts when have i ever dated someone like him?

yelena belova SO YOU ARE DATING?!

bianca stark-potts NO STOP IT!

kamala khan but she likes him!

bianca stark-potts WHO LET THE CHILD IN HERE?

carol danvers i have never been this interested in someone's love life before.

kamala khan that's because you were in space for the longest time and are now dating an asgardian. carol danvers KAMALA! kamala khan i'm getting the feeling that no one knew that.

natasha romanoff WHAT? WHO?

bianca stark-potts 10 bucks it's valkyrie

carlos danvers 10 bucks bianca's dating charles but won't admit it because she's afraid that natasha and wanda will do what they did last time.

wanda maximoff it was something perfectly normal to do.

bianca stark-potts YOU BROKE INTO HIS HOUSE! natasha romanoff and he ended up cheating on you so really, no regrets.

michelle jones does charles know that harry was the one who gave you the dog? the same dog who loves charles very much and that charles adores?

kate bishop OSBORN?

bianca stark-potts not my brightest moment

kate bishop EVERYONE KNOWS OSBORN IS THE BIGGEST DICKHEAD AROUND!!

bianca stark-potts HE WASN'T A DICKHEAD WHEN WE FIRST STARTED DATING!!

kate bishop HE'S ALWAYS BEEN A DICKHEAD! HE JUST TRICKED YOU!

peter parker heeyy, guess what i just found out talking to red bull's media admin.

isaiah atkins peter if this another genius idea to wage war against the other teams i will tie you against our hospitality.

peter parker that is aggressive. but no bianca's going to hate this.

harley keener oh this is gonna be good.

peter parker guess who red bull invited to the next gp.

tony stark oh no. bianca stark-potts i knew this was going to bite me in the ass when carol brought him up.

charles leclerc what are we talking about?

harley keener oh boy, i can't wait to see how this one will go down.

bianca stark-potts HARLEY SHUT THE FUCK UP!

tony stark seriously hungary of all places? why not miami or monaco? hell texas or vegas would be a better place.

tony stark can't believe the dickhead said yes.

sebastian vettel what the hell is he upset about now?

peter parker oh it's great, bianca's ex boyfriend is attending the hungarian grand prix with red bull. peter parker the same one who gave her the dog we all know and love

bianca stark-potts PETER!!

ollie bearman i thought you said a friend gave you that?

harley keener oh it gets better. he asked her out with the dog as a gift.

charles leclerc oh.

charles leclerc would you look at that i suddenly have something to do with my brother.

arthur leclerc we do? charles leclerc yes we do

tony stark what's wrong with him?

sebastian vettel how do you not get it?

peter parker i'm also confused.

ollie bearman you're both hopeless.

ex-boyfriend huh?

harry and i dated but i never brought him up because he cheated on me. it's just- it's not important

he gave you a dog when he asked you to be his girlfriend.

i asked you out using a lightning mcqueen meme that you posted on your story.

and it was very adorable charles. i wouldn't change it for the world.

i'm not asking for you to do extravagant things like harry did. usually when he did them it meant he was cheating on me again.

a dog is not extravagant.

and what do you mean again?

it happened like four or five times each time with the same girl. the only reason i found out was because nat and wanda broke into his apartment.

they won’t do that to me right?

they might?

my apartment is a mess! they can’t break in with it like that!

glad to know those are your priorities.

are you kidding me, it’s black widow and the scarlet witch, they can’t see my messy apartment!

charles, it'll be fine. i doubt they'll break into your apartment.

but if they do?

they won't.

what if they do?

i'll talk to them.

bianca stark-potts

kamala khan that's so adorable.

michelle jones and they call this man a terror?

yelena belova he was a terror. i've seen the videos

natasha romanoff now i want to break into his apartment to see how messy it is.

wanda maximoff this is all the confirmation i needed to know that they are dating.

maria hill she warned him about you two breaking into his apartment. they're dating.

queen shuri i can't wait to see tony lose his shit over this.

riri williams i can should've seen this coming. he's exactly her type. america chavez you've been around less than me HOW DO YOU KNOW HER TYPE? riri williams i read the groupchat america!

hope van dyne i was in a meeting what did i miss?

hope van dyne OH MY GOD!! SCOTT OWES ME SO MUCH MONEY!!

bianca stark-potts YOU BET ON ME?

hope van dyne we bet that you would end up with a driver and we were right! scott thought it would be logan or lando. my money was on verstappen or charles.

alex albon all those in favor of max releasing the mad dutchman on this osborn guy

max verstappen why would i do that?

lando norris isn't it obvious? because she's dating the platonic love of your life

pierre gasly he's the platonic love of my life! yuki tsunoda do i mean nothing to you? pierre gasly yuki, no, it's not what it looks like!

george russell max just do as we ask! take him out!

oscar piastri as a date or murder? lando norris either works.

lando norris notice how he didn't argue that charles is the platonic love of his life.

max verstappen charles is not the platonic love of my life. it's daniel.

daniel ricciardo i'll take him out. i'll do it for vegas 2019!

charles leclerc NO! NO ONE TAKE HIM OUT!

charles leclerc WHAT'S THE FASTEST WAY TO CLEAN A MESSY APARTMENT?

pierre gasly WE'RE IN HUNGARY YOU IDIOT!

charles leclerc I AM IN DANGER OF IT GETTING BROKEN IN BY BLACK WIDOW AND THE SCARLET WITCH!! SOS!!

george russell WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?

carlos sainz according to harley it's ritual to do with all of bianca's boyfriends.

max verstappen wait what does that have to do with harry?

charles leclerc oh so he's harry now? max verstappen christian said i have to be nice to him. something about him being some good investor but i couldn't care less charles leclerc take him out. max verstappen and why should i do that charles? charles leclerc ARE YOU KIDDING ME VERSTAPPEN!! HE- YOU KNOW- HE CHEATED ON BIANCA!! max verstappen and why is that important charlie? charles leclerc THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND YOU IDIOT! THAT'S WHY!

max verstappen BOOM! I WIN! PAY UP LOSERS!

pierre gasly NO YOU CALLED HIM CHARLIE! YOU CHEATED!

max verstappen I TOLD YOU LOSERS I COULD GET HIM TO CONFIRM THAT THEY WERE DATING!

charles leclerc YOU MADE A BET ON ME?

carlos sainz it's not fair, they didn't let me participate because i'm your teammate

oscar piastri can i let it be known that i didn't want anything to do with this?

logan sargeant LIAR! YOU WERE THE BOOKIE!

charles leclerc I TRUSTED YOU OSCAR!

oscar piastri it was either bookie or they were going to make me flirt with peter and figure out if he knew something.

daniel ricciardo i'm back what did i miss?

daniel ricciardo OH COME ON MAX GOT HIM TO SPILL THE BEANS BEFORE ME??

alex albon there is no getting in the way of lestappen daniel. it's time we accepted that. bianca should too if she's going to date charles.

charles sat in his room, frowning down at his phone nothing was worse than a 'we need to talk text.' his stomach currently felt like there were a million bees buzzing around in there. the knock at his door startled him and he rushed to open it, being met with the sight of of bianca. she smiled brightly at him, causing the bees to subside a bit.

"you wanted to talk?" charles asked. bianca noticed the scared expression on charles' face and her eyes widened, quickly understanding what charles thought there talk was going to about.

“no! this isn’t that kind of talk, i swear,” bianca quickly said.

“then what is it about?” charles questioned.

“can i come in?” charles nodded, stepping out of the doorway and opening the door wider, allowing her in. bianca gave him a slight smile, before moving to sit on the couch in his room. she sighed, “i owe you an explanation about harry.”

“no, you don’t,” charles said, as he sat next to her. bianca laid her head on his shoulder. charles intertwined their hands, “i do, and it’s the least i can do. besides, if i learned anything from that relationship it’s that honesty is always the way right thing to do.”

“okay,” charles whispered. bianca sighed again, “i met him at some charity event my dad was holding, when i was a little girl, before he was iron man. os corp was stark industries biggest rival, it still is. but somehow we were friends growing up.”

“romeo and juliet,” charles muttered. bianca laughed, “funny, my mom said the same thing. we- we didn’t start dating until we were 17, both of our dads were against it, but norman. norman saw it as an opportunity to show the public that he and my didn’t hate each other. i was a business opportunity to him.”

charles frowned, "that's not very nice of him."

"well he turned out to be a supervillain on another earth who hated peter. so fingers crossed he doesn't turn out like that here."

"what?"

"that's a wild story for another time," bianca explained, "but i loved harry. he was my first everything, except kiss. i lost that one in a game of truth or dare at a party when i was 13."

"hmm, i was kissed in front of a swing set when i was 9."

bianca laughed, "i loved him charlie, and he used it against me. the girl's name isn't important, although, she was very much aware that harry was in a relationship with me. the entire time we were together he was with her. 3 years of my life down the drain, wasted on someone who was never even worth it."

"i'm sorry chérie (dear) ," charles whispered as he hugged her, bianca burying her head in the crook of his neck, "you should've never gone through that with someone like him. maybe it was a good idea to convince max to take him out."

"like a date? or like murder?"

charles shrugged with one shoulder, "it doesn't matter, either works. although, i think kelly might be upset over the date one."

"and christian would upset when max ends up in prison for murder."

charles laughed and bianca giggled softly, "he's such a connard," charles said.

"i don't know what that means," bianca admitted.

"asshole. it means asshole."

"good," bianca said, "because he is one."

"we should- non c'est bête (no, it's stupid)," charles cut himself off. bianca pulled away from him, "no, what were you going to say?"

"it is dumb," charles said as he dismissed his own thoughts.

"it's not," bianca argued, "what is it?"

"we should- we should go somewhere over break. like as a couple. that is what we are no?"

bianca smiled widely at him, "yes we are, and we should. where are we going?"

"oh," charles said, surprised, "i did not think you would say yes. i have not thought that far ahead."

"it's okay. we can go anywhere. i don't mind."

"well i'm glad we are a couple because i accidentally told a few other drivers we were dating."

"charles, i called you bae, and wanda immediately caught on."

charles laughed and bianca smiled at him. she curled into him, laying her head on his chest. the stark-potts girl yawned, "can i take a nap?"

"yeah," charles whispered, "you can take a nap. i think i'll nap with you."

"i'd like that." bianca whispered as she closed her eyes.

SPA 2024

biancastark_potts posted a new story

il mio cuore, i do speak italian, despite what people think. (my heart)

liked by biancastark_potts, olliebearman, joaquintorres and others

scuderiaferrari it's a rainy one here in spa but we're glad to end the first half of the season on such a high note. it's another double podium for the ferrari boys. see y'all after the break! next stop: zandvoort!

tagged: charles_leclerc, carlossainz55

view all comments

username this has literally been the best mid season ending ferrari has had in who knows how long.

username LET'S GO FERRARI!

username FORZA FERRARI SEMPRE!

harleykeener LET'S FUCKING GO!

↳ harleykeener is this what red bull felt like last year?

charles_leclerc that's caption is not written by peter and i know it.

↳ peterbparker ISAIAH GROUNDED ME AFTER THE INNOCENT WAR I WAGED!

↳ charles_leclerc at least he didn't tie you to the hospitality like he threatened.

redbullracing free peter! he did nothing wrong but have some fun!

mclaren free our boy! he did nothing wrong!

mercedesamgf1 free our fellow admin! we were having fun!

username isaiah let our boy out of prison!

biancastark_potts and we've got another amazing half to go!!

joaquintorres can't believe i wake up so early to watch men go vroom in odd shapes.

↳ samwilson you're literally in the air force

↳ joaquintorres literally shut up samuel!

username this has been the highlight of the season besides charles winning monaco and carlos winning spain.

series taglist: @elliegrey2803 @bingewatche @arkhammaid @sunflower-golden-vol6 @lorarri @ironspdy @mypage-myfandoms @be-your-coffee-pot @celesteblack08 @vellicora @enchantedthoughts @stopeatread @hobiismyhopeu @lilsiz @alessioayla @niniluvsainz @au-ghosttype @six-call @embrosegraves @justtprachisblog @bionic-donut @nichmeddar @landonorizzz @unluckyyoshi @jamie-selwyn @cool-ultra-nerd @kami10471633 @int3rnetgf @fernandoswarcrimes @skynel09 @arieltwvdtohamflash @brekkers-whore @camdensreg @mycenterfold @dear-fifi @chiliwhore @nothaqks @nataliambc @jensonsonlybutton @octopussesarecool @trouble-sistar @raizelchrysanderoctavius @meadhbhcavanagh @emilyval1 @67-angelofthelordme-67 @mgmoore @blushmimi @vroomvroommuppett @scarletwidow3000

strikethrough means i couldn't tag you

click here to be added to the paint the town red taglist

¡leclerc-s speaks! okay, i needed to give bianca an ex but i could not be bothered to come up with a face claim or name for him so i just went with harry osborn. i know technically the osborn family doesn't exist in the main mcu universe but in my world they do. i also googled a fan cast for harry osborn and the most popular one was timothee so i went with him. please ignore any typos in this, i made this on no sleep because insomnia is a bitch.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[justivik]

CARE FOR A DANCE...?

; yandere! italian boyfriend x fem! reader

english isn't my first language

You finished your work day very tired, you had been moving all over the place and your feet hurt. Hair was a mess and you only had a moment to fix it but the whole work nightmare was over and you were close to get home where your boyfriend was waiting for you with dinner ready. He was very good at cooking and a typical Italian meal that was Gnocchi di Patate, you loved the taste and the dedication Matthew put into its preparation.

Thinking about the delicious dinner that awaited you, you arrive at your front door and it doesn't take long for the smell of potatoes to permeate your nostrils.

“Hi, honey, I'm here”

In the distance you heard how Matt greeted you with music in the background and the sound of the wooden board making contact with the kitchen knife. You went downstairs to get to the room you share with him so you could change your shoes for more comfortable ones and more comfortable clothes, you wanted to go to bed to sleep but your boyfriend was waiting for some kisses of welcome and you quickly went downstairs to enter the kitchen that had an incredible smell.

You looked at his intense eyes and shiny hair, his nose was beautiful in profile and it was a part of his face that you adored madly. His head turned to your side and a smile appeared on his face.

“Amore mio, how was work?” He quickly stopped what he was doing to wash his hands and went in your direction to hug and kiss you.

“Awful, Kate leave me all her work to go to a new store that opened near work.”

“I hate how she take advantage of you, doll. You should quit your job. I can take good care of you.” He said.

Your boyfriend's proposal was not strange to you, you know very well what kind of man he is but you want to show him that you can stand on your own and that not everything you ask for or touch has to be bought for you.

“It's okay, honey. I don't want to think about her anymore, I just want to eat your delicious food..”

You touched his cheeks and let go of his grip to mix some more of the pasta that was almost ready.

“It's almost ready” Matt replied and then followed interrupted by a familiar tune. The song that Matt always told you could be a short answer to the meaning of the great love he feels for you...

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

Matt turns off the stove and looks at you with the cutest smile he's ever shown you. Every time he smiles that cute, innocent smile, he goes back to being that 16-year-old boy you met at summer camp.

“Our song, isn't it?”

You walked up to him, placed your hands together behind the back of his neck and rested your arms on his shoulders. His hands ran along your hips drawing you closer to him, his eyes shining like a thousand stars. Matt's lips hummed the rhythm of the song.

“I only have eyes” he stretched out the last two words “for youuuuu...” he stretched out the u, making a cute expression.

While you two dance to the romantic ballad like teenagers in love, each other's lips met. It was a kiss of intensity, possession and love. You pulled away gently to quietly watch his expression, he looked at you in the sweetest way and you smiled as you brushed his hair.

“Do you want to eat now, or are we still dancing and adoring each other's presence?”

You turned up the volume on the radio and Matt laughed.

request !!

[wandabear]

CHEERFUL OBLIVION - WANDA MAXIMOFF X FEMALE READER (CHAPTER TWO)

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Summary: Your duty is to watch her 'till Chton comes for her, even if you hate it, but do you really hate it? Especially when you start to get to know Wanda. The bond begins to torment you. But, oh Lord, you've never been so in love. ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

chapter one chapter two chapter three chapter four chapter five chapter six

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masterlist

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tw: angst, violence, mentions of death, fluff, angst with a happy ending.

Jules/Stolas is portrayed by Adelaide Kane. Here.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤchapter two

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Almost four months have passed since Wanda and Y/N met. Even if the progress was slow, the Sokovian looked less sad, every time she left her room it was to go see Y/N or spar with Natasha.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Although they sometimes had dinner with the Avengers, they always had a special moment together. Wednesdays and Fridays were their 'special days just for two'.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Missions have been difficult but nothing that endangered her friends. Friends, this is how Wanda was beginning to see the people around her. They were no longer the 'avengers', Nat, Kate, Y/N, Jules, Yelena, Clint, each and every one of them cared about her.  And she cared about them too.

Slowly the brunette began to come out of that bubble, feeling less hurt and finally accepting the loss to begin to heal.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Unlike Wanda, the one who was beginning to have serious trouble was Y/N, whose confusion and guilt was slowly devouring her from the inside.

How could she have a friendship with someone she had to betray sooner or later? How many times had Abaddon say that she shouldn't come near Wanda?

Thousands of times in thousands of years Y/N ran away from this type of relationship and now, as if it was like magic, Wanda made her feel so… comfortable. ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Wanda made her smile genuinely. Wanda made her try harder, Wanda worried her. Wanda. Wanda. Wanda. ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ  It was disgusting!

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Now she not only had to deal with lying to Abaddon, saying that the Sokovian was getting closer and closer to breaking down, but she had to lie to Wanda who was beginning to blindly trust her. Just like the other Avengers, who already trusted her.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Steve did it, the man was honest and always repeated that Y/N was a great agent. Bucky said the same thing, maybe he was closer to Y/N than Steve.  He was trying to make amends for his past too, so he understood how to trust but also how to understand other people's mistakes. Natasha and Yelena trusted her enough to have her as their right hand on missions. Kate seemed to be glued all day to Jules, looking like two dumb twins separated at birth.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ Everything was starting to get too personal and that tormented Y/N.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Good! But you have to improve more in your defense, okay?” Natasha said as she took Jules hand, helping  get up from the mat.The brunette smiled and just nodded quickly and walked over to Y/N, who was looking at her in confusion. Totally surprised that Natasha was the winner.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ “Did you let her win? There's no way she could beat you that way.” Y/N whispered, looking at Jules who was still blushing and smiling.  How was it possible for a demon to be defeated by a simple powerless agent?

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ Jules smiled mischievously and wiped the sweat with a towel. “Dude, I had Natasha Romanoff top on me for a few seconds, that's enough gain. I don’t mind losing.” ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N's face said it all.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Maybe it wasn't just her who was getting too involved in all of this. Jules seemed to quickly get used to them, to… being an agent.  Just a ‘human being’.

How could Stolas forget where she came from? She was an ancient demon, respected as a Prince of Hell.  Demon Prince of the Day.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ Now she let herself be beaten and rubbed by a simple human.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

The bile rose as high as the anger, perhaps because she was projecting her own frustrations and fears onto Jules. But those thoughts disappeared when the Russian caught their attention again.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Wanda and Y/N.”  Nat pointed at them. “Let's see what you have.” ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Sighing, Y/N watched as Wanda nodded and stood on the mat. The demon did the same, perhaps a little embarrassed knowing that she was going to defeat Wanda in the blink of an eye.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Come on, go first.” Y/N said perhaps too smug, as if she were doing the girl a favor. The demon threw a punch into the air so slowly that she knew Wanda could easily dodge it, but instead of dodging it, the Sokovian grabbed her arm, forcing Y/N to fall to the ground hard.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Y/N stood up from the mat and looked at her in surprise.

She tried to go for her one more time but Wanda made her fall again, not just once but twice more. She wasn't even using her powers.

In the third time, the Sokovian ended up sitting on her belly preventing Y/N from moving in a key aikido technique.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“I’m sorry.” Wanda asked worriedly, blushing quite a bit as she brushed a strand of hair out of her face.  “Are you okay?”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“I-I’m fine. Yeah.” Surprised, agitated and a little blushing too, Y/N nodded trying to catch her breath. Noticing the position they were in, Wanda quickly stood up.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“That was great, Wanda!” Natasha clapped her hands proudly, quite surprised that the Sokovian finally fought back. 

ㅤㅤㅤ

Somewhat embarrassed, Y/N walked away towards Jules who was waiting for her with a bottle of water and a towel.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You let her win too?” Jules asked curiously but Y/N just threw the towel at her face.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Shut up!” Y/N growled and walked away from the gym so she could clear her head. Of course Wanda noticed Y/N's annoyance but she didn't say anything. Perhaps she blamed the agent’s damaged ego.

ㅤㅤㅤ

After about two or three  hours running around the lake, Y/N decided to come back and take a long shower. All afternoon trying to think of something else, but Wanda seemed to remain, like a curse, not letting her go.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

The demon tried to avoid the places where the sokovian usually was, she finally entered her room and leaned against the door, sighing.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Are you OK? I've noticed that you're a little upset.” Jules' voice made her jump.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

The brunette was in bed, with a towel on her head, watching some kind of animated series and eating some chips.

It was pretty funny, and Y/N would laugh all night if she weren't so upset.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Frowning, she asked herself what could be worse? She had to talk to someone to understand what was happening, right? Couldn't tell anyone that she was a demon, feeling confused about a girl. Talking to Stolas was better than nothing.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Yeah… it’s just… Can we talk?” Y/N licked her lips and sat on the bed, next to Jules.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Sure, about what?”  The dark haired girl sat down, leaving the chips aside so Y/N could take some.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Taking a moment to think through her words, Y/N fixed her gaze on her friend's brown eyes. “What are you doing? I mean, what are we doing here?” 

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

What was she doing in this place? Making friends, eating, doing missions to save people.

She had been making the work of people like the Avengers worse for millennia, and now she was working for them. And she did it gladly.

She was watching Wanda’s back when she hated that girl her entire life, having to 'protect' her, now Y/N was beginning to feel affection for Wanda even though she always avoided it.

Everything was so confusing!

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Of course that's what she meant, but Jules simply smiled tenderly and pointed to her Stark tablet.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“What am I doing? I'm watching this thing… I’m really into this anime called 'Demon Slayer'. It’s so good! Do you wanna watch it with me?”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Oh, awfully innocent. Silence. A tense silence formed between them.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Blinking in complete shock, Y/N stared at the brunette trying to understand if it was a joke. She was trying to talk about something important and Stolas was just... talking about watching TV.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“I don't mean that… Wait, you’re watching this… ‘anime’ about how they hunt demons… And you are a demon?” Y/N narrowed her eyes trying to understand it, and of course trying not to sound sarcastic. Seeing how Jules nodded excitedly, Y/N just shook her head. “You’re really something…”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Oh! Thank you.” Jules smiled proudly, thinking it was a real compliment.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

She couldn't even tell the difference between damn sarcasm, Y/N just got even angrier.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Ugh, I can’t talk to you!”  Y/N exclaimed in annoyance and stood up to leave the room, leaving her friend confused, but Jules just shrugged.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Walking with some haste and enough annoyance to make many agents walk away when they saw her, Y/N arrived at the dining room where she saw Kate Bishop sitting in front of the window enjoying a pizza with her dog, Lucky.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Bishop!” Y/N exclaimed loudly, pointing at her. “I have to talk to you!” 

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Sitting in front of Kate, the demon surprised the archer who opened her eyes wide, stammering. “Umh, I thought you hated me but okay!”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“We need to talk.” Y/N sighed. “You look like an irresponsible child who takes risks and puts yourself in danger, but trustworthy enough to hear what I have to say.”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Wow… Okay! Sharp but sincere, tell me what you want to talk about.” Kate looked at her curiously, inviting her to have a slice of pizza but Y/N shook her head.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Lucky watched the demon for a long time, as if he knew she was up to no good, but never attacked or growled at her. Maybe because she hadn't done anything wrong yet, but even so, he remained alert.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

 “I've been feeling... strange.”  Y/N started a little awkwardly, she cleared her throat without knowing how to express herself very well.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Like what…?” The archer narrowed her eyes, Lucky decided to go to sleep on the couch, leaving them alone.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“About Wanda…” Y/N gulped, a little nervously.  “I've been feeling different when I’m with her. I wanted to talk to Jules about it but she's not... she's not THE person... she's not even a person most of the time.” She complained, pinching the bridge of her nose.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Wanda? Oh!” Kate's eyes widened, realizing what it was all about.  “About love, well I'm not an expert...”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“It's not about love, of course not!” The demon cut her off, shaking her head. How could it be about love? Maybe this girl perhaps wasn't as insightful as she seemed. Maybe she should have talked to Barnes.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“What do you feel specifically?” The brunette asked as she drank some soda, noting that it was the first time she had seen Y/N so nervous and worried. The woman always seemed so tough and badass.  “Without you looking at me as if you wanted to kill me with your gaze.”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Frowning, Y/N thought about getting up and leaving but little by little that hard and serious expression began to relax. Kate was just trying to help her.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“Today, when we spar together, she made me fall… And at first I felt so angry. Ugh!” She clenched her jaw, couldn't believe it. Just remembering it made her blood boil.  “I mean, no one has ever brought me down in my life. And it is a very long life, Kate!”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

She stood up from her seat, slamming the table and making Kate jump.

The archer didn't say anything, just watched as Y/N paced back and forth like a caged beast.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“But she managed to make me stumble and fall easily, that made me feel so upset.” Y/N shook her head.  “But then that went away fast and I felt so proud… then I felt worried. So many feelings! How can you get them all at once?!”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

She stared out the glass window. The colors in the sky were fascinating and disturbing.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“I could have hurt her.” Y/N murmured worriedly. She finally blurted out what was really worrying her.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Kate sighed. “But you didn’t.”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“But I could.” Suddenly Y/N turned to see Kate, who was looking at her with some tenderness. Why was the archer looking at her with that tender look?

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“She’s enhanced.”  Kate tried to calm her down and make her understand, not realizing there was something deeper going on.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“And I am-…” Y/N was going to keep going but stopped. A demon.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

She was a demon, she was much more powerful, but Kate couldn't know that. How could Y/N be so stupid to almost let it out?   “A simple agent, I know.”

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

Y/N looked down.

ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ

“I didn't mean that.” Kate quickly apologized, embarrassed. She didn't want to break the progress she finally had with Y/N.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I know.”  Y/N she sighed deeply, sitting back down. “But I worry… and that’s the deal, I never worry about anyone. She's my friend, but I don't feel like... a friend.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Kate was about to say something and paused for a few seconds, wondering if it was the right thing to say, but Y/N sought her out because of her sincerity, she had to honor that.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Maybe you're falling in love... What's wrong with that?”  The archer shrugged, noticing how Y/N opened her eyes so wide that she thought they would pop out of their place.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You don't get it, can’t be ‘love’. That's not possible!” The demon exclaimed in fear. That would be the worst thing that could happen to her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Why not?” Kate looked at her confused. “It's not bad to feel love for someone. Are you homophobic or something?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Those words made Y/N laugh so bad and so real that Kate was even more surprised. How could she be homophobic? She was a demon! She had always been with women, she had always preferred them but not to love.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Of course not!” Y/N quickly defended herself.  “I love women, I just…”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N swallowed, noticing how Kate was waiting to hear more.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I just… can’t.” Y/N mumbled. “I didn't think I could be capable. That's going against everything I know, It's dangerous… you don't understand. It's not like you and Yelena. I wasn't made for this.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

After that, both of them were silent for a moment. Kate considered it necessary because Y/N seemed quite shocked at that news.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What am I going to do now?” Y/N whispered to herself. “If I am in love with her…”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You should tell her.” Kate pursed her lips, but when Y/N stood up from her seat she did the same. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I didn't think you liked me…”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I do.” Y/N was trying to deal with everything at once. She sighed deeply, trying to focus on Kate.  “I'm not used to being grateful or being close to people.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

‘You're a good person and I'm not, not even a person. I just wanted to use you to go unnoticed.’ She thought.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N gulped, after an awkward silence she was brave enough to break it. “Thank you, Kate.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N extended her hand to shake it with the archer's. Surprised, Kate nodded and shook her hand.  

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Would you like to jog with us? Tomorrow. Jules and I we used to do it, then we'll go get some lunch, maybe pizza.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Kate giggled, but was grateful for the invitation. “Is that healthy?” 

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Does it matter?” Finally Y/N smiled and shrugged, for the first time she was genuine with her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah, I- I'd like to.” Feeling endless emotions, Kate recognized that she felt happy and excited to share something with 'new friends' like Y/N and Jules. She didn't know anyone but her girlfriend Yelena in that place, and Clint was always with his family. It was normal for the archer to feel alone.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Y/N nodded and turned to leave, now she needed some time to think about everything.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Once she got far enough away, her face changed from a happy one to a worried one.

ㅤㅤㅤ

But even though Kate advised her to tell Wanda about those feelings, Y/N decided it was best to walk away.

Her job was to ‘watch’ her and nothing more, she didn't have to interfere in the sokovian’s life and change everything. Why didn't she listen to Abaddon?

ㅤㅤㅤ

The demon complained over and over again, especially when she felt that strange anguished feeling in her chest when she missed Wanda. Thinking about her or avoiding her was driving Y/N crazy. Is this how humans felt?

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N looked at her watch and then quickened the pace. Didn't have much time if she wanted to get to the gym before Wanda did, maybe she could spar with Jules or Kate before the Sokovian arrived.

But when she turned into the hallway, ended up colliding with a brunette who seemed to be waiting for her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

‘Fuck’ Y/N thought.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Well, she knew that was going to happen at some point, but didn't expect it to be so soon. The woman was evading Wanda for so many days and she was lucky, but she wasn't going to be able to evade her forever.

Y/N stopped attending their dinners, besides not sparring at the same time. Even signed up for more missions just to not see her but she was just there.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Hey.” Wanda whispered, looking up.  She started playing with her rings a little nervously.

ㅤㅤ

“Hey.” Y/N murmured, scratching her neck, thinking of some quick excuse to run away.

ㅤㅤ

“Are you going to spar?” Wanda asked just to make some small talk, since the moment seemed pretty awkward. Y/N was going to answer but Wanda stopped her:  “I haven't seen you for some nights. I feel like you're avoiding me.”

ㅤㅤ

‘Tell her the truth, don't gaslight her.’

ㅤㅤ

“Did I do something to upset you, Y/N?” The sokovian gulped at Y/N's guilty silence.  “Have I done something wrong?”

ㅤㅤ

But Y/N stayed quiet, not knowing what to say or do.

ㅤㅤ

‘Say something, say it’s not true!’ Y/N thought.

ㅤㅤ

“No, Wanda, of course not.” Her lips began to move but she couldn't say anything coherent.  She had never felt so uncomfortable and sad. “It’s just…”

ㅤㅤ

‘It's just that I'm made to make you suffer.’ She thought again.

ㅤㅤ

Smiling sadly, Wanda just looked down. “I’m boring, right?” 

ㅤㅤ

‘Oh, don't be such an idiot to make her believe that!’

ㅤㅤ

“What? No! Of course not!” Y/N exclaimed quickly, begging for Wanda to believe her, to look up and see her eyes to notice that she was telling the truth. “It's not your fault, Wands, it's actually my fault…”

ㅤㅤ

Without understanding what she meant, Wanda tilted her head.

Y/N just sighed and took Wanda’s hand to lead her to a more intimate place, leaving together to the nearest terrace.

ㅤㅤ

“I just haven't been feeling well lately.” Y/N licked her lips nervously, wondering if it was really a good time to tell the truth.

ㅤㅤ

“What's going on? What is it? I’m worried.” Wanda put her sadness aside to feel worried, even taking a step forward to look into Y/N’s eyes.

ㅤㅤ

“I don't want to make things worse.” Y/N pursed her lips, not knowing how to begin.

ㅤㅤ

‘Too late, you already have since you got involved with her.’

ㅤㅤ

“Please, maybe I can help you.” Wanda tried, taking her hand.

ㅤㅤ

That adorable and simple gesture just made Y/N open her eyes big in surprise. Feeling the warmth of Wanda's fingers intertwined with hers, it was so new, overwhelming and welcoming. A gesture so gentle, she could have sworn her eyes watered.

ㅤㅤ

“I’ve been feeling a little different around you.” The demon finally opened up, leaving her ‘head’ aside and speaking from 'the heart'. One that she never had, one that had been dry for so long but apparently was beginning to beat.  

ㅤㅤ

Wanda frowned, still not understanding.

ㅤㅤ

“Wanda… I think… I like you, a little. I do… like you.” Y/N whispered. Despite her babbling, it felt so much better to be able to let go. “And that is causing this big confusion inside me.”

ㅤㅤ

The demon looked for some answer in Wanda's eyes, trying to see if she was angry, or if maybe if she reciprocated those feelings.

Maybe expecting the witch to smile and say something cute but Wanda just opened those huge eyes, surprised.

ㅤㅤ

“Oh.”  That was all that left Wanda’s lips.  Y/N wasn't ready to hear what was next.

ㅤㅤ

“I thought we were just friends.” Wanda finished not only those words, but also the demon's dry heart.

ㅤㅤ

Quiet and sorrowful, Y/N didn't know how to proceed. Her head was beginning to scream so loud; escape, scream at her, kill her, run away, say everything is fine.

ㅤㅤ

“You didn't… You don't feel the same.” Y/N frowned at her in confusion, feeling like a complete idiot. “I thought that-”

ㅤㅤ

Wanda's look so embarrassed only caused Y/N's heart to be engulfed by a huge invisible awful beast.

ㅤㅤ

She didn't say anything, just looked down at those rings. Y/N could hear her heart racing, possibly because of the shame the witch felt.

ㅤㅤ

How could she have confused everything? Fucking Kate! She said that-

ㅤㅤ

No, she didn't say anything. It was all coming from Y/N's head. It was all Y/N’s own fault, and it weighed heavily on her chest. Anguish was beginning to close her throat, never felt so stupid.

ㅤㅤ

The demon broke something so important to both of them, without even meaning to.  Anyway, she was meant to hurt her, right?

ㅤㅤ

“Okay. This is awkward.” Y/N laughed wryly, shaking her head. She took a few steps back, not even able to see Wanda.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Wanda, who seemed totally shocked and surprised. Who didn't know how to react to such a confession, much less from someone she considered a friend. Y/N dared to break their bond, one that was not easy to build.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I-I'm sorry, I-. I have to go.” Wanda murmured nervously and turned to leave quickly, without even hearing the last words of who she considered her friend.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Yeah, sure.” 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The demon stood there, simply staring into nothingness. So many mixed feelings, that she didn't even know which one to follow.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Get angry. Go get her. Burn it all down. Don’t let her go. Tell her you care. Kill them all.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Any other time, you would have done it, you would have killed everyone. But Y/N just sighed and decided to go back to her room.

ㅤㅤ

“So, how is she doing?”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ Abaddon's voice brought Y/N back to her senses.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

They both walked through the red and warm soil of that place, a beautiful as well as dangerous place. Tanzania was an amazing, beautiful, wild place.

Sometimes it was nice to have those powers, to be able to appear wherever you want. Only the fallen could use them as they pleased, of course. Wings weren't for everyone.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Abaddon invited Y/N to follow her, she was wearing the outfit of a Serengeti National Park worker, possibly stolen from what must now be a corpse.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

 “Our lucky girl. I've seen some videos on the internet about her, she’s powerful, not as much as I expected but that's good.” The redhead sighed as she searched for something in the grass.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“She’s okay.” Y/N sighed watching the sunset in that reserve, she had never seen a sunset like that. This world kept surprising her in incredible ways.  “I mean, she's grieving her loss but nothing-”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The sound of birds flapping their wings made Y/N blink, now showing her demon eyes.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“...that indicates it's time.” Abaddon cut her off, turning to look at her. Her eyes stopped being blue and turned an angry red, dangerous and deadly. Like those of the black mamba that watched them furiously from a rock. “I've heard you say it before,  I'm tired of that excuse. You have to make sure she suffers!” 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N swallowed.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

As the sun set, the warmth of the place faded and the cold began to be felt, which neither of them was affected by.

The crickets stopped, as if they knew a more dangerous predator was nearby.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Why are we here?” Y/N tried to avoid that talk, looking around.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Every twenty-three years I like to visit this place. I like to spill some blood.” Abaddon smiled in a creepy way, walking straight towards the Black Mamba who looked furious. “A little chat with a warlord, a little of this, a little of that… I'm not the Horseman of War but I like to make trouble.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The snake positioned itself ready to attack but the demon was faster, grabbing its neck tightly. The black mamba opened her mouth, trying to free itself but it was impossible. It was next to another more powerful predator, a much more cruel and vengeful one.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“But I also like to make certain friends like this one, then I visit some people… we play a bit. I love wicked games.”  She hissed naughtily.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N pursed her lips when she heard that.

She knew that Abbadon was much more perverse and evil, possibly what she would do with that snake was much darker than she imagined.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“So, Leviathan, I need you to do your job and MAKE HER SUFFER! Kill her best friend, kill her fucking dog, get rid of everything Maximoff loves!”  Abaddon screamed and squeezed the snake so hard that Y/N was afraid she would kill it. But Y/N knew that the redhead was doing it on purpose. Y/N was a snake, she knew how much she respected them. It was a clear offense and if ‘Leviathan’ reacted, everything would get worse. 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Maybe another demon would ‘take care’ of Wanda, and make even more chaos.

Through clenched teeth, the higher demon hissed: “I want to see her desolate and collapsed!”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Don’t say anything. Don't react. Don't think about the snake.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I will.” barely said with a thin voice.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Good girl!” Abaddon smiled and finally released the snake, letting it go. That black mamba escaped, sliding quickly through the grass. “The girl is a caterpillar under our shoes, right now of course, but when she finally hatches… she will break free like a butterfly. A very powerful, hurt and naive one… one that we can manipulate.” 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N nodded, like a good soldier. “And that's when our victory will be guaranteed.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Pleased to see that Y/N understood, the redhead tilted her head to play with her a little.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“We never told you but we found the book thanks to you, so many years ago. Thanks to you we found the Darkhold.” Abaddon narrowed her eyes. “It was buried in the darkest depths of this Earth, much deeper than the Mariana Trench. And you brought us that information thirty years ago...”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Oh no. It couldn't be true. That couldn't mean anything more than… everything that would happen from now on was her fault, everything they decided to do with Wanda… It was thanks to her.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Without you... she couldn't have that destiny. You‘re her savior and her executioner.” Abaddon finished clicking her tongue.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The best Y/N could do was smile, trying to look proud but terror could be seen in her eyes even though she didn't want to. She had to think of something, she had to pick a side.

Well, Wanda rejected her. Maybe thinking about it the decision could be easier, thinking about the anger she felt and the frustration of being rejected as a simple vermin.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Be sure to let me know if there are any changes. Chton is very pleased with your work.” She slowly approached Y/N, watching her a bit flirtatiously but only squeezed her cheek, as if she were a wild child.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

She was just humiliating the snake, once again.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Can I really know what you need her for?” Y/N asked in a low voice, hoping the redhead wouldn't take her question the wrong way. Abaddon was too explosive, she could take a simple question the wrong way.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The stinging silence and sharp gaze from the knight of Hell made Y/N shift uncomfortably. Seconds in which the demon thought it could end badly, until Abaddon spoke.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“The Scarlet Witch will be in charge of destroying all our enemies, unleashing her chaos magic... finally freeing Chton and tying this entire world and every reality to her whim. Not just one world, but all of them will be ours.”  The demon's eyes lit up just thinking about it. A glorious plan for their entire species that would eventually dominate not just one but all realities.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Although a genuine smile was born on Y/N's lips just thinking about it, she couldn't deny that her instincts were still there, she was a chaos demon and always would be.  But slowly that smile faded as she thought about how awful that could be for humans. Or rather, for those she considered worthy of saving.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Suddenly in her mind came the image of Natasha, Kate, Yelena and everyone she considered 'good'.

Where would they go? What would happen to them?

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Gulping, Y/N felt guilty.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Do you think they will allow it?” She looked up for a moment, referring to the tenth realm. Angels.  “They are warriors trained to stop that, they will come for her first if they find out. They wouldn't let anything happen to humans, now they have help from other realms, like Asgard. They act stupid with big threats but this is… much bigger.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I wouldn't worry about that.” Abaddon arched an eyebrow. “We have someone inside, they're busy with something else. They are waiting for the moment, it is inevitable. It’s them or us, and the truth is that they don't care in the least about all these monkeys. Gods would sacrifice this world without hesitation to save others.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Both began to walk together through the grass, Y/N couldn't believe what she heard. Everything was ready and at the same time no one had any idea what was happening around them.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“So this Earth-” Y/N sighed, looking around, thinking how beautiful and dangerous that night was and could disappear someday. The animals that sought refuge in the night, and the macabre and charming laughter of the hyenas. 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Will be doomed, like the rest.” The red eyed demon nodded.  “You see, all these heroes like 'avengers vs villains' efforts… it's just halftime at the Superbowl. They're just wasting their time, they're all doomed from the moment the Earth started spinning around.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The redhead looked at a bonfire in the distance, happy to finally get to where she needed to be.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I see.” Y/N murmured, stopping and watching as Abaddon kept walking.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“You are one of the few who knows.” Abaddon turned to look at her, this time it wasn't just a threat. “Don't let him down.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The demon didn't say anything other than nod her head, watching as the redhead walked away slowly.

A few minutes later, Y/N heard in the distance screams of pain and terror as well as gunshots. Several people were screaming in horror, some begging for mercy and others simply dying with honor.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Sighing, Y/N disappeared from that place to appear on the outskirts of the Compound. Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to her is that Wanda walked away from her, but it had to be so painful?

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“What? You like Wanda?!” Surprised, Jules was still at her side carrying some bags as they walked towards the hangar. The mission before them did not seem to be easy at all, but there was nothing better than a good deadly mission to forget about everything.  “You told her that you liked her and she did what?!” 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Smacking Jules on the back of the head, Y/N glared at her in a deadly way to make her shut up. Although it was understandable, the brunette couldn't even begin to comprehend the magnitude of it all.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Yes. Don't say anything, I have enough with myself.” Y/N muttered, quite annoyed, could see on her face that she hadn't rested well, especially after everything Abaddon said.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Now she was forced to make Wanda suffer, even if it hurt her deeply.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I'm going to kill the bitch.” Jules grunted, dropping the bags into the quinjet.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“You can’t do that.”  Y/N wrinkled her nose.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I can't do that but I would if it made you feel better.”  The brunette demon pouted a little and then shrugged. Y/N smiled slightly, felt some tenderness that Stolas tried to 'defend' her. She left her bag on the quinjet, heading back out of the plane.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“And then Abaddon asked you to hurt her deeply.” She sighed, noticing the worry on Y/N's face. “Well, at least your job will be less difficult now.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N snorted. “You think?”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Jules sighed, despite her evil nature, she had to be honest with her. “No, I think it will be worse, and I don't even know why.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

None of them could say anything more than accept the harsh reality, they were made for that. It was their mission, although they began to doubt in silence. But a voice out of nowhere  made them both turn around quickly, surprised to see that person in front of them.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Hi.” Wanda said with a small awkward smile as she played with her fingers. For days Wanda had been completely avoiding Y/N and now she was just there. “Can we talk?” 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Hey.” Y/N frowned so confused.  Those big green eyes left her speechless, Wanda looked like an adorable puppy.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Oh! yeah! I remembered that I have to find Kate for... something… can’t remember what… bye!” Smiling widely, Jules quickly left, leaving them alone.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The awkward silence and nervous glances reigned for a few seconds until one of the two was brave enough to end it.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I'm sorry.” Y/N began, sighing heavily. The demon just  looked around, noticing that Nat was approaching the Quinjet but after seeing them, she decided to quickly walk away, meeting Jules and taking her hand to leave the place.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N thought of a million things to say, telling her that she didn't even want to see her anymore,  thought of telling Wanda that she had never cared about her anyway.

But she decided to speak with what she least expected. Her old, inexperienced heart. 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I shouldn't have gone further, I shouldn't have broken our friendship. I know what it meant to you, because it meant something important to me too.” Swallowing, Y/N felt an enormous weight leave her body and that was being able to tell the truth. Felt incredibly liberating.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“To be honest? I don't know what I'm doing.”  They both began to walk together, away from the hangar. The smell of the freshly cut grass and the beautiful sunset on the horizon was enchanting. The sun and the moon so near and so far; like that little bit of light sinking into the darkness of the night.  “I've never felt like this.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Wanda didn't say anything, just watched her thoughtfully, allowing Y/N to express herself first.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Wanda, it's the first time it happened to me.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

That made the sokovian frown curiously, looking at her gaze to see the truth. Oh, she wished she could read Y/N’s mind right now but she was also grateful she couldn't.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Have you never been attracted to anyone?” The brunette asked, that thick sokovian accent showing through, making it more charming. Making the demon fall in love a little more.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“No.” Y/N answered honestly, one of the few times in her life admitting something so important. Something impossible. “Never.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Unable to believe it, a small smile tried to form at the corner of those lips. “Why me?”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I wish I knew that.” Smiling tenderly, Y/N put her hands in the pockets of the jacket. “I mean, I know why. I just don't know... why it's my first time, I know very well why it's you... You’re the one.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Her heart beat so hard in that confusion, was she doing the right thing? After everything Abaddon said, wasn't it better to let her go?

She couldn't even think anymore after Wanda broke the distance between them and cupped Y/N’s face, ending every doubt, finally kissing those lips that generated so much expectation.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Enjoying those soft lips, Y/N closed her eyes not believing what she was experiencing. As if her brain sent a blow to her entire body, her arms quickly wrapped around Wanda’s waist to pull her against her body.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Their first kiss, their first kiss leaving the pain behind and experiencing love for the first time.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

After a few seconds and the need for air, they both slowly separated without still being able to believe it. Y/N couldn't help but smile widely especially when she saw Wanda all blushing and smiling. Just two silly giggling girls.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I like you too.” Wanda said after gaining some courage, what did it matter? She had to finally leave the pain and fear behind. All those doubts in her head disappeared when she saw Y/N's sincere look.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I'm sorry I ran away like that, it's just…” The brunette sighed, trying to be honest with her and finally explain. “Everything is so hard after losing Pietro. I couldn't afford any more suffering.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Oh darling, if you only knew.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N gulped at those words.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I don't want to lose anyone else. Everyone around me… dies.” The Sokovian looked down, feeling deep sadness as she realized that tragedy always surrounded her life like a wild animal. In some way or another, she never managed to be happy until she arrived at the Compound. “It terrified me to think that if we had a stronger bond, I could lose you. I’m cursed.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“You won't.” Y/N said quickly, reaching out to cradle Wanda's face in her hands and gently caress her cheek. Her gaze fixed on those green eyes, letting herself be carried away by passion. “I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

The demon knew that those words were going to cost her so much, that was a very difficult and impossible promise to keep but the feeling was much deeper. She didn't know what was possessing her at that moment, something she couldn't control.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

With a hopeful look and smile, the witch felt her heart skip a beat at that oath. She was ready to let herself go with whatever they had. Whether momentary passion or real love, she didn't care. She just wanted to live again.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Maybe we could…” Wanda bit her bottom lip, looking up at her. The height difference between the two was charming. “I don't know… try?”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Y/N's lips moved, about to give her an answer to that but Natasha's voice interrupted them as she approached carrying some bags. Next to her was Jules, smiling knowingly.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“It's time to goooo! ” Nat exclaimed, walking over to the Quinjet. “Move, lovebirds!”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Sighing, Y/N cursed the bad timing they were in right now. ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“We'll talk when I get back, okay? Can you wait for me?” Y/N turned her gaze to Wanda, seemed a little sad to see the demon leave, but knew perfectly well that it was necessary. The Sokovian nodded, eagerly waiting for the moment to see her again.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“Sure.” Wanda looked down shily, watching as Jules watched them smiling like a fangirl, some agents passed by her. Overcoming her fear, she dared to take Y/N's hand and intertwine their fingers for a few seconds. “Take care, Y/N.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Biting her lip for a moment, Y/N took the opportunity to get lost in those beautiful eyes before leaning down to kiss Wanda's lips once more.

This time it was a short and more chaste kiss, but definitely hopeful. 

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“See you later, Wands.” The 'agent' whispered before leaning down to pick up her bag and walk towards the Quinjet while being watched by the witch, who prayed with all her heart that the time to see each other again would be soon.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

She entered the plane and found her seat next to Jules, who pursed her lips tightly to keep from smiling, especially when Y/N looked at her with a deadly 'if you say anything I'll kill you' look.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

About twenty seconds passed until the brunette couldn't take it anymore. She quickly turned to look at Y/N, who closed her eyes and sighed knowing what was coming.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“She kissed you.” Jules wiggled her eyebrows excitedly. “Your heart is pounding even now, I can feel hers from a distance. She's into you!”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Turning to look at her, Y/N didn't say anything. Despite the seriousness of her face, she just leaned back on her seat.  “It felt like I was back in heaven again.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Surprised, Jules opened her eyes wide. She couldn't believe what she heard. “What?”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“It felt like that…” Y/N swallowed, somewhat worried, somewhat happy, somewhat confused.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

She touched her lips, caressing it gently as if she wanted to feel that feeling again. “It felt like I was in heaven again, remember? When I was happy there.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

Unable to believe what she was saying or feeling, Y/N looked at Jules with a confidence never seen before in her gaze. “We need to think about what to do. There's no going back.”

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“We'll see what to do.” Nodding quickly, Jules leaned back in her seat as well. Staying somewhat thoughtful.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

“I’m doomed.” But Y/N's gaze was lost in a fixed point on that plane, while the rest of the agents took their places, she couldn't stop thinking about those green eyes that now gave life to her heart.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ

And then she smiled.

here goes some amazing and lovely people tags   ✨  :  @wandanatfan @get-the-fuck-outta-here @idontknow-llol

Thank you so much for reading me! ✨ Really means a lot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm starting the next one.

If you want me to tag you in the next chapters, just comment and I will. Thank you very much for reading me, honeybee! It means a lot! 🐝 ㅤㅤㅤㅤ Do you want to help me? Wow, that's adorable and means a lot. You can buy me a coffee here!

[tepkunset]

Rating all* the Hellfire Gala 2023 Outfits in my Correct Opinion

*At least, all that I can find, because Marvel decided fuck making that easy in a little book or a single post like last year.

(Long post alert!)

Iceman, I love most of this look. The accented orange is perfect for the mostly blue look, and I love that he has a matching earring for his cuff-links. Such a nice touch! But those rubber boots, man... those rubber boots ruin it for me. 8/10

Fisk is giving off some Doctor Doom vibes with this outfit. I love the regalness of it, especially the golden leaves behind the ear. 9/10

??? I'm not sure who this is, but their outfit looks like they're going to a Halloween party rather than a gala. 3/10

Emma, oh my god, YES. Almost always delivering, and this is definitely one of those cases! 10/10

Xavier... I hate to say it, but I genuinely love this look. He's bringing major space man vibes, and it's super elegant at the same time. 9/10

Bishop doesn't even get points for effort. He got a red suit then slapped some belts on it. Boring as fuck. 1/10

I was about to write another "???" because I had no idea who this was, until it occurred to me that I think this is supposed to be Scarlet Witch? Except she is super duper whitewashed, so I did not even recognize her. Auto-failure regardless of the look. 0/10

Proteus looks moderately snazzy, but out of the Five is the least interesting in my opinion. 3/10

Egg has a cool coat, but those balls around his neck are way too big and awkward. 4/10

Hope looks a little like a fairy princess here, and I like that! 7/10

Tempus looks like she's going to a prom more than a gala, and I don't know what's going on with that giant shoulder piece. Did Cable lend it to her or something? 4/10

Elixir, my golden boy, is embracing the shiny and I love it! 9/10

Exodus seems to be trying out a new costume rather than a gala look, but in terms of style, it's fine. 5/10

Vision's outfit is as boring as he is. 1/10

Miles, holy shit. Miles should be giving lessons to everyone else on how to actually make a suit look unique! Bishop, take notes. 9/10

Old Laura looks like she's dressed for a gothic funeral more than a gala, but at least that's to her style rather than some crazy OOC look. So, points for that. 5/10

T'Challa... I. Am. Swooning. I know he's not a king right now but damn does he ever look like it in this outfit. The beautiful patterns and complimentary colours, holy shit. 10/10

Synch has certainly done way better in the past. It's just a plain black suit without a shirt, for fuck sake. 2/10

Captain Marvel looks like she's a marching bad, lol. The stars in the hair are a nice touch, though. 3/10

Jean's look is, I know, divisive. I've seen some people say they adore this design, and some people say they hate it. I'm personally on the fence. I think it would be better without the stupid helmet, that's for sure. And I think it looks a little too much like an Emma Frost design, if you were to just colour it white. 5/10

Fantomex? Where the fuck have you been? Anyway, he literally just looks like he always looks but with some sunglasses lmfao. 0/10

Dylan looks like a moody teen as ever, lol. I do like the black and white though. 6/10

Black Cat... Like I said, I like black and white together, but this is giving me too much Cruella de Vil vibes. 4/10

Mary Jane just picked up an evening gown off the rack I guess. 2/10

Firestar, I think? Not actually positive if it's her. Anyway, the sleeves are a bit too much for me, but I love the fiery frills on the cape. 5/10

Thor looks so ugly here lmfao I'm sorry but I hate this look. It's way too clunky. 0/10

At first I thought this was Kwannon, but then I remembered seeing panels and I believe it's Kitty/Kate. Anyway, I like the lace-up boots and I like the frills. 7/10

Hellcat looks like she's took some inspiration from a wrestler's pre-fight look, and I like that. It's simplistic but just enough stylish to pass. 6/10

Nova, going with a tits out look as well I see. I like the feathered shoulder pads, and I like the skirt. 6/10

Moon Knight, oh my god, I have a strong feeling it was Steven who pulled the strings to get a gala look, because there's no fucking way Marc or Jake would be caught dead there. Anyway, this is exactly the type of vibe I would expect from MK, maybe even a bit more playful than that with the mesh part of the top. And I really like it up until the strange boots. He and Iceman must've compared notes or something. Still, 8/10

Psylocke - now THIS is Kwannon for sure! I like the classical ninja meets evening gown look, and I like that she's sexy but not to the point of being objectified, which is a refreshing change for how artists often treat her. 8/10

Destiny and Mystique I will rate together because the score is the same: A what the fuck level of 0/10.

Forge looks fucking awesome, especially compared to last year. I love the fringe and the scarf and the jewellery and the cane... it's a complete look that gives me great vibes. 8/10

Cyclops, come on, man. You can do better than this, can't you? He looks like Mister Sinister dressed him or something. 1/10

Cuckoos look like they stepped off the set of Tron: Legacy. Or a Daft Punk concert. Not complaining to be clear, this look fucks. 10/10

[sc0tters]

Moments of Awe | Kirby Dach

summary: you and Kirby are at the same party but this time there are feelings involved.

song: Fuck Up The Friendship- Leah Kate

request: yes/no

warnings: mentions of drinking

word count: 854

authors note: every time I wrote Kirby I get on thinking about that animated character. This was crap but I spent the day writing it and this is somehow the best we could find.

Kirby watched as you let your finger tips wrap around your can of seltzer.

You had both been drinking since pres and now it was hours into the party. He knew it was wrong to think of you in the way that he was. The way his palms grew sweaty at the sight of your legs in your shorts as you danced along to the music with some of your female friends. Your laugh in between the horrible attempts to do your own versions of karaoke as you all sang along to the song that were blaring over the speakers of the club.

It should have been a crime to look at him the way you did with that piece of lime wrapped around your lips “why does he keep looking at you like that?” One of your friends asked as she titled her head in Kirby’s direction.

His eyes hadn’t left you, hadn’t left your body since Cole started talking to you forty five minutes ago. The conversation only lasted fifteen minutes or so because Kirby wasn’t counting of course. You grinned as the American had said something stupid that made you wrap your hand around his arm. It brought up thoughts and feelings that Kirby had never imagined he would feel.

You let your lips form a pout as you locked eyes with your best friend “I don’t know,” you mumbled as you felt your knees grow weak at the way his eyes almost undressed you.

Your friend smiled “go talk to him,” she mumbled as she softly placed her hand on your back to give you a soft push.

Kirby smiled as his eyes lit up when you smoothed out the ends of your shirt “hi doll,” he mumbled as he reached his arms out so that you could sit on his lap.

That was something that was common for you two. Usually at parties you were attached at the hip, both teams that Kirby had been with got the chance to see how you were attached at the hip to your childhood neighbour.

Your hand went to the nape of his neck “what’s going through your mind?” You asked as you smiled.

It was a sight that made him want to curl up into a ball and pass out “just thinking about you,” he confessed as he wrapped his hand around your thigh.

A giggle left your lips “me?” You cocked your head as you hated how kissable his lips look in that very moment “always about you,” Kirby seemed to share your thoughts as he let his fingers softly pull at your chin.

Before you had a chance to respond as your cheeks turned pink, one of the boys called Kirby because they wanted him to meet.

What irritated you was the way that Kirby placed you next to him before he sent you an apologetic look as he sighed getting pulled away from you when the boys wrapped their arm around his shoulder.

You spent the next few hours with the girls as they all swore that Kirby clearly had feelings for you “you ready to go doll?” It was tradition that Kirby would drop you off at home after a night out, part of it was because he wanted to make sure that you got back safely but the other part was him loving the fact that he was the last person you would see before you went to bed, because there was nothing you hated more than talking to strangers after dark.

Your playful mood came back as you nodded “of course,” you held your hand out for the boy to hold onto in your efforts to combat the Montreal autumn night time breeze.

The car ride back to yours was quiet as it seemed the moment from earlier on in the day was now a bust as you had both sobered up and didn’t have the atmosphere to egg you on.

Kirby’s arm never left your shoulders on the walk back up to your apartment as he watched you rest your head on his shoulder until you got to your door “you want to come in?” You offered as you spun around unaware of the fact that he was so close behind you.

If you were taller your lips would have been touching but given the height difference, Kirby instead had his lips hovering dangerously close to your forehead “always,” occasionally you’d invite him in if he didn’t have places to be in the morning, each time he’d say yes.

Despite all of the drinks that you had already had you realised you were going to need another one if you were going to keep your hands to yourself “what you thinking about doll?” Your silence made it easy for him to pick up on the fact that your mind was moving quicker than the rest of you.

Your sigh was noted “just something big that I don’t know if I should do.” You explained as your eyes moved from his to his mouth and back again.

“I think you should just go for it.”

[kitmoas]

Now, then, and Forever/

Summary: Sometimes you have to dig through the ashes

Word Count: about 10k

Warnings: ANGST (vague/brief mentions of Sexual Assault, Death, Suicide, and Self Harm), Fighting and Avenger work, and then verbal fights

*As always, let me know if I missed anything important*

A/N: This is the first part of the TGU6: Season 1 Finale! As you guys voted for, the finale is separated into two halves. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow around the same time!! ALSO there might be so many mistakes and I suck so I do be sorry my loves

***MINORS DNI*** PAY ATTENTION TO TAGS and hit the KEEP READING if you are 18+ and Open to Reading*** ***18+ ONLY***

Training Grounds Master List

“It isn’t something I’m used to, you know?” The sun shines brightly against the shiny skyscrapers all around the two, rays hitting cars’ mirrors far below them as they take a snack break in between civilian tasks. 

The boy nods, a barely there sigh as he waits for what comes next. He knows every line, and knows the troubles. It wasn’t something that made him happy, and sometimes he wishes that his best friend never met her girlfriend. He hates the thought, the two were basically perfect together but with the beloved princess came two people that he believed would be the archer’s downfall one way or another. 

“I love her…but I know I’m going to lose her one day. I’m not the person that people keep around and I get that, I’m tainted and not good.” Even though the brunette has said these words hundreds of times, it still gets stuck in her throat. 

Peter sighs, trying to gather the strength to not get angry. He’s not mad at anyone in particular, he hates being angry, but the frustration he feels by this entire situation is getting to be too much. The young boy doesn’t know too much about relationships, only really being with MJ, but he does know that the four of them need to figure out what is going on before it destroys them all. “Kate..you know I don’t believe that and neither does she.” 

The young brunette shakes her head, pulling her legs up so they no longer dangle over the edge. Wrapping her arms around her knees, leaning her forehead against her arms, making her look even younger than she is. 

Peter raises his hand, hesitant and hanging in the air near his best friend’s shoulder before he lets it fall back to his side. He can’t push too much, knowing the girl would immediately retract into herself and hide all of her emotions. 

“I’ve done everything, anything I could. I just wanted them to love me. I want them to look at me like the books, you know? I get it’s not up to them, it isn’t their job but sometimes I just want to be good enough just..being me.” The way she speaks is frantic, fast and almost out of it. It’s almost as if she’s not even there, just a mindless rattling of her thoughts. 

“I don’t want to say it again, but at this point I’m going to. It feels like that saying, don’t meet your heroes and that sucks but Kate you are not being treated correctly by them. Your girl shouldn’t be letting them treat you this way either, and no matter how amazing she is that doesn’t give her a pass to let others treat you like shit.” The young man isn’t sure why he decided to signal you out, but he did. Trying to shrug off the guilt, he stays head strong in his statement. 

“Clint turned out fine.” Kate’s voice is small, an attempt at her know-it-all mask. It’s a pitiful effort, they both know that but neither point it out. 

Closing his eyes, the grip on his soda tightens just a little and cracks the glass slightly before he takes a deep calming breath. “Well.. maybe that’s because you didn’t start dating his wife?” 

Kate’s head snaps up, wide eyes as she shakes her head adamantly. “I didn’t do anything wrong, Wanda and Natasha gave her permission to go out and be single while they were gone. It isn’t my fault really that they wanted to keep me around after. I didn’t…I-” Her voice dies out as she starts shaking, her head falling back to lean against her knees as she tries to reign in the beginnings of a panic attack. 

The boy sighs, trying to back track immediately. He didn’t want to make her panic or freak out, just point out a basic difference between the two. “Just because you didn’t mean for it to happen, and just because they kept you around, doesn’t mean that you get to be treated like this or that they expected everything to end up like this. Maybe something else happened and now they aren’t sure where the dynamic is?” Slowly speaking, trying to bring focus back to the normal way these conversations go, Peter lets himself watch a few kids play below them on the sidewalk as he waits for a response. 

Kate lifts her head slowly, a confused expression painted across her face as she turns to look at the boy. Her mouth falls open a few times, eyebrows furrowing as she tries to collect her thoughts. A noise of skepticism tumbles from her lips, making her flinch at herself and how pathetic she sounded. 

“You’re telling me that you haven’t noticed anything different? Things haven’t evolved in the year or so that you became part of this dynamic? Even if that evolution isn’t something that you want, it needs to be dealt with before it drags you all down.” He turns to her now, a gentle look on his face as he finally notices she’s calmed down and seemingly back to her fix-it mentality. 

Ocean eyes squint, a teasing look soaring across her face when a mischievous smirk pulls at her lips. “When did you become so smart? You’re a child.” 

He rolls his eyes, running his hand through his messy curls. “Being with MJ has pushed me to learn about things and how to read her emotions.” Trying to push off the real foundation he found, a mentor who has been helping him be a better man for his girlfriend. 

The archer sees right through it, snorting as she mocks her best friend. “You’ve been hanging out with Scott and Hope haven’t you?”

He’s laughing, nodding as he shoves Kate away from him. The two taunt and joke with each for a while, giggling and gossiping like normal teenagers as they watch birds and planes fly by. 

Ringing interrupts the moment, the two of them laughing even harder when the jarring noise almost makes Peter fall off the ledge. 

“If you two are done doing whatever it is that you happen to be doing, I have a mission for you.” The static filled Stark voice almost echoes at the height the two are, bouncing off the glass and muffling against the brick. 

Struggling to contain the giggles, the young boy straightens even though his mentor cannot see him. “Yes Mr. Stark sir, we are ready.” 

Scoffing, the billionaire’s sarcastic smirk can almost be heard as he attempts to hum professionally. “Good, don’t disappoint. The information has been sent to both of your HUDs. I’ll see you both soon.” 

The two of them chug back their drinks, smiles bright as they stand and quickly stretch their legs. Peter’s mask materializes around his head, eyes blinking as he readjusts to the ability to focus. He looks around as Kate’s new suit bleeds out from the shooting glove on her left hand, a mix of nanotech and Uru. The two still can’t believe the suit that was gifted to the CEO, something that must have taken not only a trip into space but months to build. Purple and black in color, shiny as it glows from the magic within its molecules, the suit practically melts against her skin before dark purple glasses slip around her head. 

Kate’s eyes blink frantically, working to quickly adjust to the blinking information that shows up about everything around her; a smirk spreads along her face before she jumps off the ledge. “Race you there!” 

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“Do you think it was a mistake?” The sentence made you freeze, alcohol blurring your vision and sugar rushing your veins. It wasn’t sudden, you knew that your brother and best friend had been walking on eggshells to not bring up the situation that you’re in but you weren’t ready for such a blunt question. A toe dipping into the endless abyss of water, just a touch to see the temperature, was expected even welcomed because you knew you needed to talk about it. You should have known better. You never seemed to get what you thought you needed—no, instead you were handed what the world believed you would benefit from. 

Unsure of where to even begin to answer, you slowly look away from the screen to where the other two sit huddled together. Taking a deep breath you try to settle the sinking feeling in your stomach, the sting of bile crawling its way up your throat at the thought of them asking if one of the three people you love were a blunder. “A mistake?” Your voice is shaky, cracking embarrassingly, bringing a vexed maroon across your face. Something you always hated about yourself was your inability to hide your emotions, your mask only lasting long enough for you to flee judgemental eyes before crumbling into pieces at your feet. 

With each movement, awkward and robotic, crinkling of candy wrappers and snaps of pretzel sticks fill the room. No one really knows where to go with the conversation now, the threat of a full blown fight just a few wrong words away. 

It’s the blonde who gains the courage to speak up first, hesitant with each word nonetheless. “It…we are not saying that you need to end but you do not think this is getting out of control?” 

You are instantly defensive, not wanting to admit to the state of your dynamic. It wasn’t something you were proud of, hiding in the good moments to distract yourself from the bad. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh now, we all know that is a lie. Do not lie to your best friend.” Yelena settles back into the couch, crossing her arms as she mockingly pouts up at you. She is no longer scared of your outburst, knowing that it’s just a way for you to redirect your own frustration. 

It surprises you when Carson’s voice rings out, strong and confident. Your younger brother is rarely open to confrontation, and it makes the situation you’re in even more serious to you if he is even ready to speak up about it. “Everyone sees it now, even mom and dad are questioning things. You lasted how many years without them even second guessing where you were going, and all that is going to crumble in a couple months.” 

“He isn’t our fucking dad!” Your voice cracks, anger clawing its way up your throat. Glaring at the floor in front of the coffee table, you try to sort through your thoughts quickly but you can’t even decide who you’re actually mad at. 

Carson nods, setting the control on the couch next to him as he sighs. He had thought you would be passively defensive, not outwardly offensive with him but he was wrong. The young boy should have known as soon as he brought up your step-father that things wouldn’t be as smooth for him as they were for the widow next to him. 

Yelena just raises her eyebrow, rolling her eyes as she watches you seethe. “Do not take it out on him, you know that your anger is not at us so take a moment to breathe.” She’s talking almost as if she would to a child, but for some reason it doesn’t make you angry. 

“I don’t know anymore. Okay? Is that what you guys want to hear? I don’t fucking know anymore. Everything is falling apart and everyone is so angry all the time. My life is crumbling, every single thing I thought I knew is breaking. Everything is so tense and I don’t know how to deal with it! I didn’t sign up to keep the entire world together! Okay? I didn’t want this! I am not the one in charge! I signed up to be able to give and do, and become a person that eases the tension in a relationship by just existing as I am. I didn’t sign up to be a smart issue fixer. I sound like a fucking idiot, I can’t fix anything! I couldn’t even save dad, how does anyone expect me to save them? How does anyone expect me to fix things? 

The two watch as you stand up, screaming into the room. It doesn’t scare them but the louder you get the more that your younger brother flinches. The blonde agent just sits there, legs crossed as she watches you break down. No matter how much either of them want to reach out to you, Yelena knows better. The moment you realize that you are still in a room with people you’ll dart, flight kicking in as the fight in you sizzles out. 

She knows you need this, a moment to feel the pain that you have been bottling up for months now. Everything in your body and mind mixes, memories being dragged into your current world to try and make sense of something that you feel like you lost control of. As much as it pains both of them to sit there and do nothing while you crumble in front of them, they know it’s the best thing for you. 

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“The world won’t understand who you are and what you want, but that isn’t something that should cause you to fight this.” The airy, echoey voice grates along the inside of the brunette’s head. Annoyance sinking into her body the moment the conversation diverts to the topic she had been avoiding. She didn’t want to hear another lecture about the future, instead she wanted to be trained like they had agreed upon. 

Wanda sighs, frustration seeping out of her body. She wants to reach out and strangle them but she knows that it would be futile. They aren’t there saying these things out of spite or ill intent, but as knowledge. “What if I want to fight it? What if this isn’t what I want?” 

It’s like they loved to mock the Avenger, snickering at her as she explained her feelings before shooting down every single thing she wanted. “You don’t really get to decide that Wanda, this isn’t something you can just get rid of. It’s your destiny.” The wide smile on their face boils the witch’s blood, wanting to simply speak it out of existence. 

“This doesn’t fit into my plans.” The witch could feel the steel stubborn bricks building in her stomach, something that her parents used to say she had when she was younger. It was always an issue of hers, anytime she wanted something and didn’t feel like she should budge she dug her feet in and built steel bricks. 

Wanda watches as they roll their eyes, taunting her as they lazily inspect their nails. “Losing Pietro and your parents didn’t fit into the plan. Losing your home didn’t fit into the plan. Being taken to this country and forced to fight for a side you never believed in that didn’t fit in the plan.” If the Sokovian could, she would strangle the arrogance out of them; absolutely fuming at the mention of everything she has lost in her life. “This..this fits into the plan more than you could ever believe and you need to trust the prophecy.” 

A sarcastic scoff tears through the brunette’s teeth before she can stop it, eyes twitching as she works to keep the connection between the two of them through her annoyance. Regardless of how much she despised what she was being told, she knew that she needed to hear it. Preparation was needed, and this was the way she would find it. “Until I once again lose everything that I love because of a foolish prophecy. I have finally built a life that I’m happy with, am surrounded by people who love me for who I am. Is that not the real plan? Is that not what I wanted forever?” 

The feeling of a cold finger tilting her head up makes Wanda’s skin crawl, the urge to break the digit off is strong but she resists. A feigned sympathetic look spreads across their face as they coo at the witch. It’s almost believable, but the younger brunette is smarter. She knows they don’t actually care about her, using her to make sure they are safe and able to mold her as needed. This is a strategic survival plan, but she has no other option than to play into it.  “Think bigger sweetheart, love is an Earthly thing. You were destined for more than just this planet.”

Wanda sighs, her face scrunching when she feels her magic surge; begging to break free.  “Maybe it’s you that was destined for more. I want to spend the rest of my time doing exactly what I’ve been doing. Nothing less and nothing more.” 

“If only you could have control over that, but no one can stop this–not even you.” The witch opens her mouth to counteract, complain that if she’s so powerful then why can’t she do something. “No, there’s things out there that even we cannot control and that’s something that we both need to learn to accept.” Their hand reaches up, petting her brunette hair completely disregarding the tense muscles. It’s entirely too much, almost comedical, as if they were baiting an angry bear. 

Wanda’s eyes snap open, glowing crimson as she loses control. She knows what they meant, a world that would know who she is destined to be will emerge inevitably and she has to be ready to lose it all. It’s knowledge she understands, grasps fully, but it’s something that she will fight until her last dying breath. The world can try to destroy the life she has created, but it will have to demolish her along with it. 

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Watching him pace the floors of his old farm house was always weirdly relaxing to Natasha, knowing that being here meant safety. The two friends tried their hardest to never actually come here unless they knew no one would follow them. “You can’t keep acting like you don’t remember what you were told, it isn’t fair to anyone.” Just like that, it’s less of a safe place for the ginger.  

Pouting the assassin stares up at the archer, trying to guilt him into saying sorry for absolutely nothing. “Stop taking someone else’s side, just because she’s your mentee doesn’t denote the fact that I am supposed to be your best friend.” She sighs when she realizes that it didn’t work, the man immune to even her most basic attempts. 

The tired man rolls his eyes, rubbing at his face as he bends down to pick up some thrown clothes on the ground. “That wasn’t the reason, nor am I taking anyone’s side. I just simply think that this entire situation is getting incredibly out of con–” The rest of his lecture is thankfully cut off as his three children come rushing into the room, the youngest immediately running circles around his name sake. 

The young boy practically becomes a cheetah every time he sees the ginger, excitement making his body vibrate. “Auntie Nat, tell dad that we should get pizza tonight please!” Even as he zooms around his big puppy dog eyes are obvious, and it tugs at the widow’s heart strings knowing she can never say no to him. 

“C’mon Barton, don’t be boring! Give the little gremlins what they want!” The ginger drags the youngest boy back, smiling wide at his screeches. Pulling him to sit in her lap, Nat smiles as she hugs Nate as close as possible. She knows that she needs to come around more as she realizes how much heavier he’s gotten since she last saw him. Pushing away the emotion as the speed of his growth hits her, the Russian focuses on the present. 

The glare shot her way is ignored, subtly flipping off the older man. He stands up straighter, raising his eyebrow as he stares down his best friend. “Just because they’re here doesn’t mean you get out of talking, you know that right?” 

“Are you in trouble Aunt Nat?” Lila’s curious gaze meets the widow’s, and Natasha gulps as she silently curses the young girl’s maturity and sharp social skills. She's too young to be this good at it, but then again so was the widow.

Cooper’s ears perk up at that, the older boy starting to grow into his own and eager for a moment to show off his skills. Even if it is his sister that has picked up the family archery, he has officially started exploring different forms of protection. Taking after another Avenger, the boy has been learning how to fight with shields and weapons made for defense. It's something that his family pokes fun at him for, but he loves it.

The Russian smiles, softening her entire expression as she looks over at the young girl. She needs the conversation to end there, or at least the interest in it from the adolescents in the group. “No sweetie, I’m fine. Your dad just wants to try and get me to talk about things I don’t want to talk about.” 

Clint scoffs, rolling his eyes as he settles into the couch and pulls out a menu. “More like talking to someone about something that you need to talk about.” 

Cooper groans, flopping back onto the recliner. “Dad we aren’t little kids anymore, you can talk about grown up things around us. Well I guess Nate is a baby.” He snickers when he sees the younger boy gasp. 

Darting off of Natasha’s lap, Nate launches himself at his older brother. The two immediately begin to wrestle, tumbling over the back of the chair and rolling around on the wooden floor. Lila rolls her eyes, slipping on her headphones as she tries to ignore the annoyance of the boys. One to always try to act cool around her aunt. 

“Figuring out dinner is difficult Clint, and not everyone can just magically do that.” The ginger crosses her arms, slowly receding into herself as she feels the lecture coming back. 

The old archer chuckles, jotting down notes on what they would be ordering that night, barely paying attention to anything the other is saying. “You act like food is so difficult. It’s not. You look at the options, and you pick the best one. It’s that simple Nat.” He presents his list arrogantly to the woman, wiggling his eyebrow mockingly. 

Huffing, the assassin glares at a scuff on the floor. Refusing to the cocky expression on the other’s face, she denies him another time. “Not when it’s dinner for everyone in the house, not everyone is going to be happy with the same thing everytime.” 

Dropping the notepad down on the side table, Clint leans against his knees as he pushes into Natasha’s personal bubble just slightly. “Stop acting like you’re feeding toddlers, it truly isn’t that hard to feed four adults and make sure they all get at least something that will be good for them. I can easily cook dinner for Laura and our kids, you can cook for your group too.” 

“Why does it fall on us, huh? You and I should get the opportunity to just sit back and wait for dinner to be finished.” Not one to take a challenge lightly, the ginger drops her feet to the ground to level up with Barton. 

Smirking, the archer tilts his head and laughs at the woman. He knows exactly where he trapped her, and he knows that he can use it to his advantage now. “Sometimes you gotta step up Nat.” 

“Step up to what dad? It’s just dinner, stop acting like it’s a mission to cook.” Cooper’s crooked grin as he interrupts the competitive moment makes the Avengers chuckle, a split second of relief in the conversation. 

Standing, and obnoxiously stretching, Clint uses his body to force the ginger to lose balance and fall back into the chair. “Yeah, well your Aunt Nat isn’t really good when she’s the one in charge of dinner. She’s burned the food the past few times, keeps just trying to order food to replace it.” 

Nate's eyes brighten, excitement buzzing through his body as he hears one of his favorite dinner ideas. “Delivery is the best though!” 

Nodding along, the father picks up his phone to prepare to call the pizza shop. Pausing, he leans against the table as he takes the minute to look at four of his favorite people. “It’s amazing and fun, but it doesn’t replace a home cooked meal. Sometimes seeing that effort and love put into something so warm means more than something just bought, or picked out. Dinner, and food in general, is an act of love. It’s a way to show someone you care about them, and some days it’s okay to order something to be delivered. It still shows you care enough to get them food, but that extra effort to take time out of your day to plan and actually cook the food is so much better. The food also almost always tastes better. Love isn’t about the money kids, and neither is food. It’s something that your Aunt Nat needs to learn, and it’s a hard lesson to learn but it’s one that everyone has to go through at some point.” 

As he finally turns away, lifting the phone to his ear and the kids go back to playing, the ginger’s focus drifts out the window. Thoughts of you, Wanda, and lastly Kate bounce about through her mind as she debates her next move. 

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“Are.. you alright kid?” The sympathy in the older man’s voice tugged at your nerves, a tone you know not many hear. 

You take your time to answer, debating if you want to attempt to lie. The urge to brush off your feelings and insecurities is strong, especially when you logically know most of them are false, but you know the soldier next to you would never consciously fib to you. “Maybe everyone’s right.” 

The question is silent, a man of few words as per usual. His head is just barely tilting up towards you, waiting patiently but pushing you in the way he knows you need to. 

Tugging your shirt sleeve down, suddenly hyper aware of everything wrong with you, your stomach flips and gags you slightly. It’s almost like your body is trying to reject opening up, anxiety swarming your nerves and every inch of yourself. “It’s illogical for anything in my life, especially this, to work out. It’s the trend at this point, so why would it change? It doesn’t make sense, and one day I’m going to be forced to choose.” Your voice dies out slowly, your body following as you try to curl up in on yourself. 

Bucky’s rough voice cracks the foundation of the wall you had just begun to build, stopping you in your tracks. “Do those people matter? If you guys make it work then really that’s all that matters?” 

His question makes you think, the first person to not just point out the entire situation going on to you as if you weren’t experiencing it currently. It made you malfunction slightly since you had mentally prepared to defend your life, or maybe to get angry again. Instead you take a breath, letting the one thought that you shove down the most run free for a second. “Maybe, or maybe we’re just being naive. I don’t want to ever be put in a position where I have to choose. I know what my choice would be, at least in theory, but…it would destroy me. I’m not even sure who I would be after that.” 

You watch as he flexes his dark vibranium hand, rubbing at it as if he was cleaning up a smudge. Uncertainty rises in your throat, but he once again lays a heavy hand on your fear. “You’re a fighter, and you have plenty of people that would support you in any way you would need. I would support you in any way you would need.” 

You couldn’t help the small smile that pulls at your lips, the normally stoic man always had a soft side for you. It was something that you found pride in, keeping moments like this close to your heart. The relationship you had with the soldier was something that was incredibly important to you, and you knew that he treasured you.  

The happiness you feel is short lived as you let his statement sink into your mind, letting it get engulfed by the darkness that sits within you. Turning such a beautiful sentiment into another dagger to dig into the wound that you never let heal, only scabbing over for a brief time before you allow it to be ripped back apart by your mind. “I was never meant to make it this far, never meant to save myself. I’ve known that from the beginning. I’ve been playing in overtime, a dangerous game to play.” 

Flashes of nights spent alone, the weight of a loaded pistol in his hand, fill his mind momentarily. Blinking rapidly, the older man tries his hardest to ignore his own memories as his determination to keep you safe overpowers. “You know I disagree with that.” 

Rolling your eyes, you lightly shove him. “Just because you disagree doesn’t mean everyone in the world disagrees.” 

Stuttering, a moment of disbelief filters through the older man’s mind. He spent so many years under the influence of chemicals and other people, but for some reason he was able to make it through. Not necessarily the best mentally, Bucky survived and is now the happiest he has ever been. He wants to help you, wants to ease your tension and fears but how can he help someone whose brain is miraculously even darker than his. 

“Sometimes I feel like the world would end if I didn’t exist, which is really ironic for someone that wanted to die most of their life. I don’t understand living, or joy in the daily world. I never did. Even as a kid I romanticized death and ceasing to exist, it seemed peaceful and ideal. It wasn’t because I thought I couldn’t handle responsibilities or anything, at least that wasn’t why back then, but because I thought that was like my destiny. Ultimately death is everyone’s, in theory eventually, but for me it always felt like I was bound for an early untimely demise ” Chuckling, you can’t help but flourish your words at the idea that played in your head almost daily for most of your life. For you death was only scary when it wasn’t your own, instead you would greet it with open arms for yourself but it simply seemed to never want to welcome you back. 

You never thought it was dark, or sad, just the way your life went. The mindset you had didn’t please most people, and you try your hardest to ignore those thoughts as much as possible but it isn’t always easy. As of lately, with everything going on, the world around you no longer is loud enough to drown out your deepest dark romantic thoughts. Instead it sang its grim melody, luring you back into its grasp. “Keeping everything together, things are falling through the cracks and I don’t have all the information. I can’t be the glue anymore when I can’t even keep myself together.” 

Bucky eyes flicker around, trying to think of how to answer everything that he had just heard. He knows that you don’t want to hear anything about death, your mind has been made up for years now, so instead he focuses on something he may be able to help with. “Are you the glue because your dynamic falls solely on you and your involvement or because whatever is happening right now is forcing you to believe that you’re the only thing keeping everyone involved in the relationship?” 

Your mouth opens and closes, jaw tense as you stew on the words Bucky said. It wasn’t something you ever wanted to think about, a flaw within the dynamic that ultimately fulfilled all your dreams. While you know that most people believe that you saved Wanda and Natasha’s relationship, you don’t like to think that. They would have survived, and thrived on their own, but you do know that you brought a steadiness that they were not used to. Many say that you saved Kate, but in all reality you believe that the two of you saved yourselves to end up together. You didn’t like the idea of being the reason why Kate is thriving, the girl fought her whole life and she deserves the credit for where she is. Pride wells up inside you every time you think about the warrior that she is, and how she truly is a hero. She may never fully believe that, regardless of her god complex, but she is your hero. Everything she ever does is amazing, and leaves you breathless, but you see the anxiety and the hesitation with each movement and decision. 

Unbeknownst to you, the soldier next to you was watching you carefully. Analyzing you as you zoned out, a moment of silence between the two of you allowed him to gather his thoughts. He knew that you had a darker side, a part of you that most ignored for the cute loveable layer. It was a fact, but he wasn’t used to seeing it so much. You had been far less bubbly and adorable as of lately, the weight of everything dragging you down and allowing the gloomy side out.  

The mostly comfortable tranquility was shattered by your best friend slamming open the stairwell door, the two of you flinching as you turned to her. Her face is frantic, breaking all of her training as she looks around. “Grab your suit, kid, we must go now.” She shakes her head, cutting you off effectively when you go to question her. The look she shoots your way is all you needed to see, jumping over the couch. 

Thoughts distraught in your head, you can feel a slight burn along your left rib cage. Rubbing at it you are surprised when your suit starts melting across your skin, realizing that it’s been enchanted. The dark, almost black, suit quickly covers your body and a mask slips over your head. You blink when your vision glows red, purple writing explains everything around you and gives you information on anything that you may need. Looking down at your hands you realize that the mask shows you all the weapons that you have, magically concealed within the belt now around your waist. 

You can feel the power surging through you, and when you hear Wanda’s voice echoing through the mask you feel confident. With the witch’s magic protecting you, and her voices guiding you, there wasn’t anything you felt like you couldn’t conquer. “Let’s do this.” Laying your hand on Yelena’s shoulder, you will yourself to be where you need to be. Disappearing, the two of you leave a static filled smoke cloud behind. 

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The ginger barely blinks when she sees the remnants of scarlet mist floating in her peripheral vision. “You know, whenever you said you would show up wherever I needed you I never thought that you would really start showing up without my asking for it.” 

Wanda settles in the seat next to her girlfriend, sitting sideways so that she can look at her. Letting her legs hang over the armrest, the younger woman rolls her eyes and sarcastically tips an invisible hate towards the widow. “I’m at your service, night and day. Top notch, automatic. We’re all just living in your world, aren’t we?” The smirk pulls at her lips, her eyebrow raises cockily. 

It didn’t take the widow much brain power to pick up on the sarcasm dripping from the witch's lips, a bad habit that only grew after the two collared you. The young Sokoivian was never really a sardonic person, just had a mask of confidence, but your bratty side unlocked a part of her that no one could control. “Destined to rule the world and can’t even admit to it being yours, how humble of you.” 

“Don’t you own them? Isn’t that what you said? Bishop? Your Toy? Aren’t they our world? You say I’m destined to prevail, but we both know you are awaiting the destruction not the regime.” Wanda picks at her nails, an act that the other woman sees through easily. The younger of the two always had a harder time hiding her emotions, a detrimental issue for her powers. 

Natasha chuckles dryly, focusing on the panel of screens as she tries to act unaffected by the other woman’s attempt at baiting her. “Dramatic as usual, if only you left that in the past with the heavy eyeliner and tacky pleats.” 

Twirling one of her rings around her finger, the witch’s eyebrows scrunch mockingly together as she stares at her partner. “Are you sure you were trained to be an assassin, you spend more time critiquing my old fashion choices and pining over millionaires than you do actually going on missions nowadays.” 

Hitting the display board as she finishes inputting the last bit of information, hitting the button for Friday to take over. “Ah the root of all the problems in the world. Me liking someone that isn’t you. Don’t you think it’s a little ironic that you’re so possessive over me when you’re the one that wanted to open the relationship?” Spinning the chair to look at Wanda, the ginger struggles to keep her anger in check as she sees how nonchalantly the woman is talking about everything. 

A taunting laugh falls from her lips, the witch paying no attention to her seething girlfriend as she plays with a small ball of her magic. “Jealousy is a quaint little idea Romanoff, if only such things were of my nature.” Finally raising her gaze to meet the older Avenger’s eyes, Wanda's nose scrunches as she mocks her. 

Rolling her eyes, Natasha scoffs as she plants her feet firmly on the ground between the two of them. Leaning in she reaches up to shove the other girl’s feet to the ground, smirking as she stumbles a bit. “Right, you would never be envious of me. I’m not good enough for that, that’s reserved for cocky archers.” Gripping the witch’s chin, the spy forces her face to level with hers; a feeble attempt at gaining the upper hand. 

Wanda uses the position she’s in to her advantage, letting her mouth fall open just slightly and softening her gaze. She looks up at Natasha through her lashes, a face she knows the older woman can never say no to. “She’s more than that, but if you want to demote her to such a title; let’s talk about that.” Her voice is light, but the bite is evident as she practically whispers. “If she’s just an archer, why would you care so much about fixing your preposterous reaction? Why would a simple athlete’s feelings matter so deeply to you that you would stoop to the level of the Americans that are just so infantile to you for celebrating a fake holiday?” 

The silence is loud, a representation of the ginger’s confidence as it dies out. The witch’s innocent doe eyes hardened and spark up with mischief as she realizes her words were finally cutting deep. Competition was always a strong common ground for the two, even during an argument as both sides push and prod the other to try and outdo them. “Usually you would fill the dead air, Natalia. Most people wouldn’t allow someone to spread such lies about them. Unless they aren’t lies, unless the world was oh so wrong about the heartless Black Widow. Is that it? The idea of your beloved princess and her worthless stray being mad at you gnawing at your black heart strings. The thought tearing at your chest like a black hole. Isn’t it funny that you act so unaffected by everything but really you couldn’t handle the fact that someone put their hands on a moronic mongrel that you couldn’t muster up a single sympathetic word.” 

A defeated sigh falls from the spy’s lips, falling back into the captain’s chair as she lets go of the brunette’s chin. “Are you acting out Maximoff?” 

Wanda, thriving as she watches Natasha retreat, lets her ego get bigger. Sitting up straighter, posture becoming more regal as she arrogantly looks down on the spy; pride in what she believes is finally a win for her after months of back and forth. “Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll stop. Tell me that you aren’t fighting your own mind daily. Wishing you could slit the throats of those men, wishing you could destroy every single childhood memory of the mutt you fell for.” 

“Maybe you’re right, but don’t you think it’s funny that you gave them the reaction they wanted because you didn’t want them to be scared of you. You aren’t soft, and you aren’t loving. You’re cold and calculated. If anyone here is heartless it’s you Maximoff. You are filled with a darkness that even the most evil of men couldn’t fathom, a tenebrosity overwhelming even the blackest of nights.” Even though the words she speaks are harsh, Natasha curls into herself. Backing away from her girlfriend as she tries to reign in anything she might later regret. She knows her training is better than this, but something about Wanda has always made her lose control in every way no matter how good or bad. 

Clenching her jaw, the witch can feel the tension brewing inside her body. Her shoulders rigid as she tries to figure out what is about to happen. She doesn’t want to use her magic, instead relying on the fact that she knows the widow like the back of her hand. It doesn’t fail her often. “At least I had a reaction, fake or not. I didn't need to grovel at the feet of a spoiled rich kid. My dignity is still intact unlike yours.” 

“You can have dignity, all high and mighty but what will you be left with after that? A fake air of confidence and a mask that sinks so deep that even you forget who the real girl underneath it all is? The girl that Pietro left behind completely gone? Did she die with him?” A sad, almost sullen smile pulls at the corners of Natasha’s mouth as she looks up slowly. Her bright forest green eyes almost look wet with unshed tears, something that would fool most people but not Wanda. No matter how much the widow plays, she knows that she’ll never be able to actually trick the brunette into believing any of her tactics. She had to have known that this was the plan all along, a hit below the belt to get her to back off after she had cornered her. It was dirty, and unkind, but at this point in the game nothing was off the table anymore. 

It took a moment for what the assassin said to really sink in, almost lost in the bubbling anger but when it finally hit the world felt cold. Her brother was always left untouched, a memory that she cherished and tended to daily so she would never be without. A thing atop of pedestal where no one could reach, but the Russian had decided to get a ladder and step into a different playing field. “She may have died with him, left in a pile of rubble but at least she was real. Loved and cherished. Where’s the real Natalia? Did you ever know her? Did anyone ever know the real you or did your poor mother sell that off too? What was she worth? Has to be more than whatever we’re left with.” 

Bringing up specific things, like her brother or the ginger’s lineage, wasn’t something that Wanda took pride in. The business the two were forced into brought enough opportunities for low blows and deep cuts to hash open, memories of beloved people weren’t something that needed to be tainted. Only stooping low when others decided to, digging a basement for the rock bottom jabs. 

Deciding that was enough for the time being, Wanda takes the shocked silence as her chance to disappear. Her knowledge of the one person on this Earth that she truly thought she knew inside and out failed her. 

It’s almost entirely silent in the quinjet, even the wind rushing as the ginger flies through the air isn’t heard. The trace of crimson fog lingering in the air as Natasha sits there struggling to breathe, alone once more. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world flashed before the two young heroes' eyes, a moment that drew slow for just the duo as they realized that this was no ordinary robbery. Frozen in their spot, an imaginary glue adhering them to the metallic floor, it’s almost like watching television. A deep rooted want to scream out, to heckle the characters on the screen for not moving, but reality slaps them across the face when a terrified scream rings in their ears.

The two young New York natives realize that they are the ones in the show, forcing themselves to move in the heat of the moment. Scattering in hopes to stay vigilante, one step ahead of the masked men who are patrolling the floor. Slipping into a trusty vent, the archer takes a page from her own mentor’s book as she just barely stows away before she’s seen. 

Kate’s eyes search out the young spider, something she would chastise herself for later. How could she lose sight of her partner? It was basically rule number one, always know where your allies were. Slumping against the vent wall, she takes a moment to try and control her nerves. The guys below her were familiar but mind bogglingly overpowered, she wasn’t sure where they got whatever weapons from but it wasn’t something in the information sent by Stark. A fact that she would have to remember to bring up to him. 

Crackling the young spider’s voice finally breaks through her ear piece, and she looks around trying to find where he is. Finally seeing him in a dark corner across the room, hanging on by his webs, the archer is relieved to hear his static filled voice. The two take a minute, breathing a sigh of relief when they realize they are both safe for the moment. 

When an energy beam goes flying by Peter’s face, miraculously not giving away his position, the young boy starts trying to figure out a plan. “We gotta go down before they do anything dangerous, I wonder why Mr. Stark didn’t tell us about whatever glowy stuff they have.” 

“I’m not sure he knew, but this bank looks familiar.” Ignoring how the boy starts pestering her, ocean blue eyes scan the area before it clicks. Her company helped service them, and she wiggles gleefully. Slipping a trick arrowhead from the new pack, she waits patiently for a louder noise before stabbing it into the metal near her. Quickly pulling up her watch, a projection allows her to use the B. Tech arrowhead to take over the entire building’s electrical system.

It only takes a few swipes before the entire building’s power shuts down, everything going deadly quiet before the emergency lights click on. The people below, recovering from shock, finally started to search for who was responsible. 

“Woah did you just do that?” Peter’s eyes are squinting at the archer as he tries to look at what she’s doing from across the bank. 

Kate just giggles, nodding as she swipes through surveillance and vault locks. “My company wired this entire building, I just took this fight back for us. We just gotta be quick.” The CEO rolls her shoulders, closing the blinking projection and motioning out to the spider where she would be going. 

Slipping out of the vent, her legs dangling, the archer scans the area quickly before throwing an arrowhead across the room. A forcefield expanding as the trick arrow bounces, blocking off an entire hallway. Immediately giving away their positions, but the element of surprise and night vision on their side. Though the two don’t fight side by side, back to back, the two keep track of one another at all times. 

It’s almost effortless as Peter webs up three guys approaching Kate’s back, and the archer takes out a man with a blaster aiming for the spider. It’s a rough fight, the young Avengers not quite prepared for a group of people that can handle the type of weapons that they wield.

The two spend more time protecting, acting on the defense rather than offense. They knew that it was going to be a tricky mission when they realized how many civilians were scattered through the group. Understanding that worrying for others safety is causing them to be on the losing end of the fight. 

“Oh spidey boy!!!” The deep voice sings out, mocking the young boy. 

Slipping as she hears the voice, Kate loses balance momentarily causing her to miss her target. Cursing herself, the archer quickly takes the target down at the last second and barely saves a young girl. She isn’t sure where her fellow hero is, but she hasn’t been alerted by the AI that there was an issue so she has to assume that nothing is wrong. 

“Get your head in the game, Kate.” The more she moves the more she berates herself to do more, swinging around to take down different masked men. Her new bow mindlessly switches between sword and bow as quickly as her own reflexes, arrowheads traveling up her arm and Uru spines extend instantaneously as the sharp point touches it’s rest. The fluid motion in which her new suit and equipment works with her body is mesmerizing, a new extension of her own mind.

She almost feels like a hero now, not just in bravery and attitude but look and technology as well. No longer needing to rely just on her own eyesight and guesstimating, the HUD in the glasses framing her face telling her all the information she would ever need. The pack along her torso was the most amazing part of her new set up, instant arrowheads all controlled by her thoughts allowed for a practically flawless display of her skills. 

Every opportunity that she’s had to put this new suit on was something that she could have only dreamed of. Fights have become something almost like a tournament to her, competitive to an even higher max than before as she finally settles into her laser focus. Nothing but her next movements, the next person to protect, on her mind; Kate feels at the top of her game.

A bone chilling scream rings throughout the bank, echoing off the large marble sculptures, making everyone turn to look at the source. There in the center of the room, clutching and clawing at his head, is Peter crumpled in a withering heap. A dissipating green smog floats in the air around his collapsed body, a subtle sizzling sound can be heard through the tense silence. It’s almost like even the masked men weren’t prepared for the reaction they got, frozen in their position. 

Scanning his body, the AI in Kate’s ears is practically screaming and rushing her forward to save the boy whose body is rejecting all functions. She’s moving before she can realize it, the edge of her sword sparking as she slides across the stone floor. Coming to a stop on her knees in front of her best friend’s balled up from, she takes out a few men sprinting towards them without taking her eyes off of the man holding a broken tube. Arrowhead and sword in hand, the young Avenger stands to her feet. 

Her face is painted with anger and vengeance, even though her suit covers most of her expression, and she barely flinches when the second man in charge comes to stand next to his friend. Tossing the trick arrow to the ground, a force field surrounds the four of them and Kate lets her mask down. “I wanted you to see the face of the girl who is about to destroy you.” 

“This is the infamous Hawkeye?” Their laughs bounce against the sizzling electricity, mocking as it echoes in the small makeshift arena. The two men clearly only paid attention to the boy behind the archer, not realizing how much damage that the archer could really do. 

“Is this our movie moment? Where we get on our knees and beg a little girl to spare our lives because you’re just oh so powerful.” The two men aren’t even phased as they cackle, joking as Kate holds two arrowheads between her fingers. 

Fanning them out, she focuses on how she is close enough to see the veins in their necks bulging as they howl. She wants to seethe, rage overtaking her actions, the need to protect her best friend strong but something feels wrong. The men don’t seem to even care that she’s there, holding deadly weapons, and while the young girl is used to people underestimating her this was different. 

Confusion floods her body, almost forcing the confidence that she was feeling out. She doesn’t understand this dreadful cloud that is hanging above her head. This wasn’t the moment to get insecure about her abilities, she had an important job to do which only got more needed when Peter was taken out. 

“At least we know what our Love Bug looks like all grown up.” Kate blinks, once and then again as her gaze lifts to scan the man’s covered face. The breath gets caught in her throat as her mind fights against the protective wall around forbidden memories. 

Everything is happening all too fast, cracks breaking the foundation of her entire heroic facade. She can’t break now, not here; not in front of them. The blood in her body pumps cold, a stark contrast to the vengeful hot temperature it was seconds ago. Kate wants to move, can hear the AI in her ear urging her to move now while the two were distracted but she can’t.  

The second man hits the other on the chest, pointing at the CEO’s body as his disgusting gaze travels downward. “Just as hot as she was back then, honestly I could take another go at her.” 

The sentence was muttered, almost under his breath but it was almost like he screamed it to the archer. Her entire body shakes, and her heart begins racing. She wanted to run, to hide under a blanket and pretend like the world no longer exists. 

It’s almost like her suit takes over for her, the archer’s knees weak and almost collapsing under her. Forcing Kate’s hand to move, readying to throw the arrowheads, but the two men reach up and slip their masks off. Even though she had realized who they were, their voices engraved into even the deepest of her memories, the second she could physically see their eyes and their cocky arrogant smirks everything crashed and burned. It’s almost like she could still feel the rough messy hair atop their heads, muscle memory trying to shove it away forces her to drop her weapons.  

Stepping towards her, even though she’s the same height as them now, they practically loom over her. It’s intimidating as they almost circle towards her, kicking away the fallen sword. Tugging off their gloves, one of them reaches up to cup her flinching face. Calloused thumb rubbing her cheek, so aggressively that it almost leaves a raw red mark, while the other man grabs at her waist. When Kate’s face lowers, sinking in on herself as she attempts to be smaller, the man’s hand leaves her body to tangle his fingers into her hair. 

Yanking her head back, the two chuckle at her pained expression. Almost tugging her head back and forth, inspecting her. For the first time in about eight years the young brunette finally raises her eyes to make direct eye contact with the two men who destroyed her life. Hating herself as she searches for the sparkle of the men she grew up with, a glimmer of the people who father trusted most. Mind racing as she figures out a way to win the game, to make sure that they are proud and happy of her at the end of play time. 

“Did you miss us, Bug?” 

[anghraine]

A few bad but fairly typical P&P takes got me thinking about ... Mako from Legend of Korra, actually, and also, just fandom dynamics.

Many of you weren't in that fandom (or perhaps any fandom) back when LOK aired, but I was very active in it. I actually liked—and still like—some aspects of LOK better than ATLA, and I certainly liked the fandom better than ATLA's.

That said, LOK fandom was still less a dumpster fire than a landfill explosion. To this day, I couldn't even identify the single character who got hit the hardest by LOK fandom's approach to discourse, which like most fandoms today, painted a thin veneer of social justice over good old-fashioned stanning/ship wars, but did it much more transparently.

In any case, if I were going to try and pick the character who got hit hardest by the LOK discourse truck, Mako would at least be in the running. The later days of LOK fandom can give the sense that the basic ship war from Day 1 was Korra/Mako (Makorra) vs Korra/Asami (Korrasami). But my strong impression back when the first book aired was that the ship war dynamic was much more Korra/Mako vs Korra/anyone-but-Mako.

There were plenty of not-Mako options. Korra/Bolin was pretty big for awhile. Korra/Tahno had a substantial following during/after Book 1—Tahno was the waterbender from the rival pro-bending team who got curb-stomped by Amon. There was, of course, Korra/Asami (seemed like no chance in hell at the time, but sweet). It was even a good fandom for hero/villain shippers like me.

I think a lot of this activity ultimately coalesced around Korrasami. But at the time, it hadn't quite happened yet. The fandom was wanky (sorry, discourse-y) about virtually every character, but a lot of people really, really, really hated Mako in particular—Mako haters could encompass people who liked or hated the first season, people who loved or hated Korra, people still mad about Zutara, whatever. I didn't like him at the end of Book 1, myself, though I couldn't buy into the screeds about how abusive and exploitative and otherwise problematic he supposedly was.

Since I didn't actually have much of a stake in the main ship wars, I've always found this dynamic more interesting than anything else in terms of fandom behavior, because I've seen it happen many times, but I hadn't often seen it at the level that Mako hatedom took it to back then. So I was thinking about how this happens, and the particular way it happened with Mako back in the aftermath of Book 1.

Early in Book 1, Mako is revealed to be a tragic, brooding orphan with a slight edge trying to support his sweet-natured younger brother and himself through a mixture of industrial work and magic sports. He gets swept off his feet (literally and metaphorically) by a beautiful, very cool, very rich girl (Asami) and enters a romantic relationship with her, only to feel increasingly drawn to his beautiful, very cool, very powerful friend Korra, our heroine.

Some people pointed out that "which awesome and hot girl do I choose :( it's really hard :( :(" is not the most sympathetic quandary for a character to be in, and for the target audience, particularly unsympathetic coming from a young man. And the choice to repeatedly cut from shippy Mako/Korra moments to Asami looking upset didn't help (especially since Asami lost almost everything when she chose to stick with them and turn on her father). And Mako's eventual apology to Asami was genuinely a bit underwhelming—it's basically "mistakes were made."

And, yeah, those things are true. But fandom is not always so OTT hostile about the man in that kind of love triangle taking awhile to get his shit figured out, even when the man is much older than Mako, a literal teenager. Like, I never thought I'd compare Avatar to Bridgerton, but the Edwina-Anthony-Kate dynamic seems roughly similar and most of the fandom came away from it really invested in Anthony/Kate and sympathetic to them. It depends on the fandom and on the depiction.

It's not that Mako didn't screw up in Book 1. It's that the reaction—he's an awful person for pretty ordinary missteps and some poor relationship choices, he's an abuser, he's the worst character in the show, whatever—just seemed wildly disproportionate.

And also, yeah, overreacting to minor misdeeds and reducing a character to ultra-exaggerated versions of their worst selves out of sheer annoyance is a fandom staple (especially when the misdeeds take up as much air as the early LOK love triangle seemed to for many people, with other aspects of the story crammed into limited space). But the extent of the hatred still struck me as rather extraordinary, especially since he seemed to go from reasonably well-liked to feverishly hated in a short period of time.

My theory after B1 aired was that this really came from the intersection of a fandom that was very prone to this kind of exaggeration and poor faith readings with the actual structure of his characterization in B1. We quickly discover his tragic past with his parents being murdered, and that he's been struggling on the streets, and has to look after a cuddly but clueless brother who doesn't seem to get the urgency of their problems. He uses his prodigious lightningbending abilities to make just enough money in a sort of magic power plant to get by in combination with pro-bending successes. Essentially, we're given far more than the minimum required to sympathize with him and tolerate the occasional asshole moment.

But later on in B1, a lot of his characterization and scenes are directly tied up in the love triangle, and many of his original, somewhat more ... pressing concerns, end up getting pretty much resolved in one way or another. So a lot of those original sources of sympathy that were so concentrated in his early scenes are no longer a concern, while others are no longer being emphasized by the narrative.

And it's certainly the case that Mako was much less widely and disproportionately hated later on, at least in my fandom experience. Some people still hated Makorra with a passionate fire, but Mako himself seemed much more endearing to many people once the narrative dialed down the love triangle, explicitly paid attention to his loyalty as a friend, his basic heroism, his close yet sometimes difficult relationship with his brother, and a certain adorkableness that was not absent in B1, but which wasn't as heavily emphasized.

I don't mean to argue that this later narrative treatment was necessarily better, but I do think the more even distribution of sympathetic qualities or revelations about him alongside his flaws made him much more palatable to a lot of the fandom. It's like people ... just kind of forgot why many of them originally liked him unless the narrative went out of its way to remind them.

This is really long, but I did feel that B1 kind of overplayed its hand with Mako early in the season, and then underplayed it in the later parts of the season, and fandom being fandom, people enormously overreacted to their sense of what was going on in that phase of the story (for many: ARGH!!) and not all the information they actually had.

This isn't a hill to die on for me, exactly. It was just how I saw what was going on—this kind of toxic mix of fandom bullshit with some peculiar choices in the structure of his characterization and what got emphasized (or even mentioned) where. That is still my general impression, though—that the fandom's response wasn't coming from nowhere, but that we were getting this kind of intersection of a fandom even more prone than most to over-reaction and poor faith assumptions + some genuine oddities in structure and emphases in his characterization during that first season.

What does this have to do with P&P? Well, I'll get to that. But this post is honestly long enough already, so I'll do the follow-up tomorrow, probably.

[applebottomthemes]

The Giggle Thoughts

Naturally, spoilers ahead

- Honestly I was very excited for the Toymaker's return. The whole concept was beautiful

- Mel, my beloved, I'm so glad you're home

- My understanding of the Toymaker's effect on humanity was that it brought out what they thought (hence the always being right issue). So Kate going off at everyone, more what she said than how she said it, was weird since I thought it was kinda their deepest thoughts coming to light, not just a bit of ableism or ginger conspiracy

- Though her fear of the Doctor is valid. You know, since he’s an alien that always seems to come out on top. Well, almost always

- MEL!! (I'm glad they had a solo Mel & Doctor interaction)

- I felt 14 was needlessly aggressive towards humanity? Just flat out insulting humanity out of nowhere? That was weird to me. If it was built up? Fine. But it just appeared

- Catherine Tate is amazing the whole way through. She always nails it. Much love to her

- The Toymaker's shop folding up just reminded me of Dan's house I'm sorry-

- LMAO THE SPICE GIRLS SCENE. We love a man who can make an entrance

- 14's regeneration, Mel and Donna reassuring him and insisting to be by his side? Immaculate. Bi-generation? Not so much.

- Unpopular(?) opinion but they keep giving the Doctor lore that I can only think to describe as main character syndrome. With 13, Chibbers tried to tell us that the Doctor is actually the only one who had regenerative abilities and it was extracted from them and bestowed upon other Gallifreyans to make them Time Lords (I will not stop talking about how this makes so sense in regards to the last 60 years of Doctor Who. (Also no hate to 13 I love her so much she deserves better))

- But yeah, giving the Doctor the Timeless Child lore and now this, something that is supposedly a myth? It feels very much like a child stacking a bunch of powers onto their character to make them seem all important

- Don't get me wrong, bi-generation is an awesome concept. Just... don't give it to the Doctor. Please.

- Wait is 14 commando?

- Ncuti was brilliant, though I wished he was treated more like the Doctor than a side character. He is now the Doctor, after all.

- The end of the Toymaker felt... a little anticlimactic

- I THOUGHT 14 AND 15 WERE GONNA KISS THAT SCARED ME

- 15 and Donna really told 14 to get help lmao. They know he's not okay

- The mention of Adric and Sarah Jane broke my heart

- The concept of two Doctors and Two Tardis' is... not sitting well with me. They need to let Tennant go. I can't stress enough how much this concept makes me want to peel off my own skin and burn it.

- Okay, also potentially unpopular opinion, but the rule of show, don't tell? I feel like they abandoned that with the wheelchair ramp scene.

- Have y'all seen that Sonic Boom clip where Knuckles is like "Actually Amy, stating that a woman doing this is abnormal solidifies the idea that it's abnormal because you're making it seem like it's a great achievement that will only be done once"... or something like that? Yeah, some of the inclusitivity felt like they were making a big deal of something that should be... normal? Like, you could have Shirley just enter the Tardis. You get the message across that hey, the Tardis is now wheelchair accessible, without being so on the nose.

- Despite everything, the slice of life at the end with 14, the Noble family and Mel was beautiful. The Doctor is finally healing

Overall, I enjoyed the episode, there were good bits, and not so good bits, and of course things I would like to have done differently. It started off really strong but gradually got weaker, and it felt like there was a better resolution than what we got, and the bi-generation should not have happened, at least not to the Doctor. Of course my opinions are neither right or wrong, for they are opinions, and I'm willing to see the opposing side to my views and even be challenged.

I feel like I'm being mean so thank you Russel and the Doctor Who team for bringing us these three episodes, they have been a joy to watch.

Also I praised Ncuti and Catherine, expressed my love for Bonnie, but I didn’t give props to Tennant. He really is great

[hydesjackiespuddinpop]

Nate cheering up Leia is so sweet. My only thing is that I wish he'd have said all those fears in the basement. I get that he wanted to have Jay's back, but the lying makes it 1000000x worse.

Once again, I hate the way Nate calls Nikki "practical" behind her back. Guaranteed Leia was the one who said that word, but if Nate knew what the word meant, I just know he would've called Nikki that.

And also, the way Leia is all "come on Nate, that's just how [Nikki] is" as if somehow Nikki being realistic and keeping all her options open is some little quirk of hers is even more annoying. Newsflash, if you keep the mentality that something will last forever when there is a a chance it won't, it'll only make your life worse.

I do love how Nate made Leia laugh and her feeling better thanks to him.

I haven't said this before but I love how Leia says "comfortable". Just sounds homey.

Them finishing each other sentences just gives off Anna and Hans, minus Hans being a shitty human being tho haha.

I've said this, even back when I was a Neia anti, but there are my feelings about them only seeming to have being hopeless romantics in common. But that is a very solid foundation for a potential relationship between them. Having similar wants and needs in life IS very good for a relationship. Plus there were only 10 episodes, so I'll cut the writers slack just this once.

The amount of chemistry they had in that almost kiss moment. Leia's face always does it for. A part of me wishes she and Nate did go through with it ngl, but I'm glad Gwen caught them because Nikki doesn't deserve that shit. But an arc with them kissing and Gwen not walking in on them and THAT leading to the triangle, N*kate breakup would've been better since Gwen wouldn't be giving that ooc shitty advice.

I've also noticed the difference in Gwen's tone when calling Leia and Nate. With Leia, she's shocked, maybe even slightly hurt and definitely repulsed. But with Nate, she's like 'what are you doing? you have a gf'.

Last note but Leia just sprinting out of there is very funny, but like I said before, that's not gonna fix what she did haha. Very relatable tho, since I would've done the same.

[skiplo-wave]

I hate to add onto this Kate Middleton discourse, but as someone who is in medical, it is quite curious. Because they said she had abdominal surgery to "correct something" and wants it to remain private (as it should), and not only that, but she had to be in the hospital for 10-14 days. That tells me, usually, it's about two things: it's either crohns or correcting weight loss surgery. Kate is a skinny tall woman. Almost too skinny for her height. I think they said she's like 5'10" or 5"11". But everyone's body is different. So you really can't always say "well they are this height, so their BMI should be this." Right?

However, Kate use to have a lot more meat on her. Even when they had their engagement announcement and she wore that iconic blue dress. As it got closer to her wedding, she get skinnier and skinnier. And she remained like that. When she was pregnant, she looked healthier. After pregnancies, some will lose weight and some won't snap back right away. Sometimes it takes a full year for your body to recover after pregnancy. Some people do lose a LOT of weight, especially if they are breast feeding. Breast feeding burns a lot of calories. This girl got sickly skinny. Especially after she had Prince Louis, her last baby. She will wear these long fancy gowns and you can just see the bones sticking out of her chest sometimes and her hips. Mermaid gowns are usually more flattering on taller women. We all know the stories about Diana. We know that a lot of the royals like to be well kept. They are in the public eye and critic all the time. Diana ate like a bird sadly even after she got over making her self sick. We also know too that Kate, while she was dating William, was just ripped apart by the media.

I highly suspect that:

1. Kate got a gastric sleeve that went haywire and she got it corrected. A lot of the times those don't hold, because the sleeve will get air pockets which will cause the person to get sick a lot. You can correct it, but there is a good chance that it's going to do it again. Thus having it removed is the best option.

2. Kate had gastric surgery and again, there are complications. A lot of people, especially smaller people who don't need the surgery, will constantly get sick. It's a very painful operation because they are re-routing your intestines etc etc. They have to limit what they eat. They have to cut out a lot of foods. There are people that get so sick and frail. With this surgery, it's not as easy to correct like the sleeve. There is a chance your body will NEVER go back to normal and you may have 10-20 years to live depending on the severity of it.

3. Kate may have crohns disease. Which is understandable if she wants to keep it private. Because a lot of people think it's always caused by starving yourself. But it is a very heraditory disease. And being in the public eye and the way that newspapers love to run with lies... Yeah, I don't blame her if this is the case. Especially since again, she's tall and very skinny for her height.

Deadass who cares what this woman doing or why she’s missing.

Bottom of my heart I do not care about to royals

( no offense to you anon )

[topazy]

Hunted

Pairing: Liam Dunbar x reader

Warnings: Swearing

Chapter: 5.10

You are still staring at Liam in shock. “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you. It sounded like you just said you tried to kill Scott.”

“I-I did.”

“What are you talking about? You’d never hurt anyone.”

“Lu…” he sighed defeatedly.

“How?”

“I thought killing him was the only way…” he trails off.

You stare at him in disbelief, unsure if you can trust your own mind. The moment you found out your mom was plotting to kill a boy you hadn’t even met made you feel physically ill, but learning your boyfriend had tried to kill the same person felt like a kick to the gut. You spring forward in the bed when you feel bile rise in the back of your throat, momentarily forgetting you have a body full of stitches, and let out a yelp as a sharp pain shoots through your stomach.

Liam places his hand on your shoulder as you double over in pain. You lift your head and meet his gaze, noticing for the first time how bloodshot and swollen his eyes look. You didn’t know that it was possible for a werewolf’s eyes to look like that, even in human form. You just assumed they would heal quickly.

You were conflicted on what to do. You could tell Liam was desperate to explain everything to you, but you were in so much pain and your mind was still reeling from learning that Derek was your biological father. That, along with everything else, was too much.

Squeezing his hand, you softly say, “Can you please go? I just can’t deal with any new information right now.”

He starts to open his mouth to protest but stops when a nurse enters the room and says, “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to check on how your stitches are healing.”

“It’s fine,” you tell the nurse with a weak smile before looking at Liam. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

He gave you a forced smile that didn’t manage to hide the emotional pain he was feeling. Truthfully, you were glad the nurse came in when she did. The thought of listening to what happened was almost too much to cope with.

—

“I’m sorry I fell asleep,” you say, rubbing your eyes.

“Don't apologize,” Derek shrugged, “I'm sure you needed to sleep more than talk.”

You let out a sigh as your head flopped back against the pillow; a part of you wished the whole thing was just a bad dream. Your attention was drawn back to Derek as he shifted uncomfortably in a chair. “Did you like Allison?”

He raised his brows at the question, “did I like her?”

“Yeah, she didn’t like you at first.” You chuckled. “She thought you were a serial killer at one point.”

“That was when Peter went on his killing rampage,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I didn't know her well, but I knew she was brave and she really loved Scott,” he says, pausing briefly before continuing. “What you said before, about history repeating itself, about how Allison and Scott were in love, and he looked at her the same way his beta looks at you, but Kate and me were different. She only ever used me to gain information about my family…”

“She’s a horrible person,” you cut in. “All the Argents are. The only ones who ever treated me like a real person were Allison and my uncle Chris; the rest of them acted like I was invisible. I always assumed they hated me because Kate had me so young, but who knows?”

“I’m sorry, if I’d known she was pregnant, I never would have let them send you away.”

You smile softly at him. It would be difficult, but despite everything that had happened recently, you had finally found a parent who cared about you.

—

A few hours had passed, and you mostly sat in a comfortable silence, but your mind was going into overdrive. Derek must have sensed your internal distress. “Everything okay?”

“Things aren’t always black and white, are they?”

He put the outdated magazine he’d picked up in the waiting room down and said, “What do you mean?”

You begin to toy with the threads at the edge of the blanket covering your lap. “If you do something really bad, but for a good reason... is it still bad?”

“I’ve done bad things to keep people I care about safe, and I’ve also done bad things for the hell of it.”

“That didn’t help me in the slightest; if anything, sharing that makes you sound kinda shady.”

“Fair point. If you're talking about Scott's beta, I think you should hear him out,” Derek says for the first time.

“I thought you hated him,” you say, surprised.

“I think he's a kid who was manipulated into doing something he never would have done otherwise…” he trailed off for a moment before looking at you with interest. “Do you know much about the moon's effect on wolves?”

You shake your head. “Not really. I know they can lose control, but not as much as I’d like to.”

Derek smiles, he's happy he'll have something valuable to pass on to you.

—

A couple of days had passed, and you’d been discharged from the hospital. When you arrived back at your uncle's flat, much to the dismay of Derek, who insisted on staying in it as well, you were surprised to see Liam waiting for you.

He’d come by to see you a few times since your last conversation, but because Derek was always there and never said much, you suspected Liam was a little frightened of him.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” Liam immediately stood up from the couch and made his way towards you. “I can always come back later.”

“It’s fine Liam, I’m glad you're here.” Liam looks a little sceptical but sits down beside you in the kitchen, “I’m sorry, I should have listened to you the other night in the hospital.”

Liam explains in full detail how Theo convinced him that Scott was letting you die on purpose and that the only way to save you was by taking his power. “I need to tell you something else. Theo is back at school.”

“How?” You ask, feeling frightened for the first time since waking up in the hospital. You’d just assumed Theo had run off after being found out.

“I guess he still has some kind of plan, but I promise I won’t ever let him hurt you again.”

—

Derek did his best to try and not listen in on the conversation from down the hallway; in fact, he’d excused himself the moment he spotted Liam. But the moment he heard Theo’s name being mentioned, his interest peaked.

He needed to stay low as the Calavera family, along with bounty hunters, were looking for him, so he didn't do anything rash yet. The moment he saw you in Mexico, he figured you were Kate’s daughter, but not his daughter. It still amazed him that he knew of an almost-grown child whom he had never met.

The guilt of not being there for you weighed on him heavily, but all he could do was try to make up for it now. He’d tell you all about his mom, Peter, and the rest of the Hale family and all the shit he’d done eventually, but right now the only thing he cared about was finding the asshole who put his daughter in the hospital.

He smiled slightly when he heard Liam saying he’d never let Theo harm you again. No hint of a lie could be detected in your boyfriend's voice, and Derek was convinced Liam would stop anyone who tried to harm you again, by any means necessary.

—

You fight the urge to yawn as you wait patiently for Liam to notice you and Scott are in the tunnels with him. He was so focused on it that he'd failed to sense either of you before. When he finally does, he jumps back in surprise.

“You lost?” Scott asks.

Liam nods his head, “Completely.” His eyes shift between you and Scott, “How did you know I was down here?”

“We followed you.”

Liam was taken aback. “Why are you following me?”

“Why are you down here?” Scott asks, slightly tense.

“I’m just trying to figure out if this is where they took me and Hayden. Malia said she was down here too, and Lu remembers it as well. Malia also said you were right.”

“Uh, there’s a turn you keep passing. It’s easy to miss,” Scott says sheepishly.

Liam had a look of uncertainty on his face, but you gave him a reassuring smile. “How many times have you watched me pass it?”

“Five.”

“Come on,” Scott says, motioning to the right. “Let’s see if we can find it together.”

You link your fingers with Liam, who looks confused. “I’m surprised Derek let you come down here without him.”

Your smile spreads across your face when you hear his comment. The confusion in Liam's voice was obvious. He was genuinely surprised to see you without the older wolf. Since coming out of the hospital, Derek had made it clear you weren’t to be involved in anything dangerous, so you weren’t fully sure what was going on, but you weren’t going to let Liam get himself into danger on his own. “It wasn't for a lack of effort,” you joke. “But Scott assured him I was safe with him, with both of you.”

Liam looked a little shocked but didn’t say anything else. You continued following Scott in silence until he stopped walking and extended his hands out, as if he was feeling an invisible object. “Do you feel that?”

Liam put his free hand out, feeling the air around him. “It’s like something's vibrating.” He lets go of your hand and leans down to feel the ground, to try and pick up where the vibrations are coming from. “It’s coming from everywhere.”

Scott shakes his head, frustrated at not being able to find the source.

Liam shakes his head and lets out a deep sigh. “I was just trying to do something right.”

“You do a lot right,” Scott says with a sympathetic gaze.

“Yeah, but I did one thing really wrong.”

The alpha locked eyes with you for a moment before looking down at his beta. “Lulana and Hayden are alive. Everything before that doesn’t matter.”

“It should,” Liam argues. “I feel like I had to do more than just say sorry.”

“Actually, you still haven’t done that.”

You watch as your boyfriend's eyes start to well up from guilt and remorse. “Back at my old school… at Devenford, I got into a fight with this kid. I knocked two of his teeth out. They made me write a letter of apology, but we both knew it meant nothing. We both knew that sooner or later, we’re gonna get into another fight. I can’t just say I’m sorry, I feel like I have to do something. Like maybe, somehow I have to save your life.”

Scott crouched down to be level with him and spoke softly, “don’t worry. I’m pretty sure you’ll get a chance.”

As they continued to talk you were drawn to a ugly stone snake that was eating itself stuck to one of the walls. It was covered in cobwebs and dust, but you gripped the side of it with your hand to see if it would move, and it did. “Guys, I think this is something,” you say looking over at them. You keep turning the snake clockwise until it makes a clicking noise, followed by the sound of a machine stopping. “Oh shit, did I break something?”

“No,” Scott says, pointing to a hidden doorway that was now visible. “But you’ve opened something.”

—

When Scott opens the door into the hidden room, he’s greeted by your uncle pointing a gun at him.

“Uncle Chris!” You brush by Scott and hug your uncle.

“I'm glad you're safe,” his tone of voice surprised you. Something was wrong. You notice the look of dread on Scott’s face and step back towards the doorway.

“You didn’t,” Scott says, looking directly at your uncle.

“I had to.”

Your attention is drawn to the other side of the room when you hear footsteps. Your heart stammers in your chest when your grandfather walks over with a smug look on his face. “Hello, Scott.” Scott lets out a low growl and protectively moves in front of you and Liam. “I haven’t seen that colour on you. It suits you.”

Liam, still unsure of what’s unfolding in front of him, asks, “Who’s the old guy?”

“Uh, at the moment they would call me a necessary evil, but you can call me Gerard. Although, I’m sure my sweet granddaughter would have a few other choice names for me.”

“What were you thinking? How could you bring him here?” you snap.

Your uncle gives you an apologetic look and says, “We need him.”

“He’s right,” Gerard says. “If you want to catch a werewolf like the beast of Gevaudan, you’re going to need more than one Argent.”

Rage rushes through your body. Liam, sensing it, stands beside you protectively as his eyes start to glow yellow.

“He knows all the stories, all the folklore,” your uncle says, defending his choice. “Everything is written and passed down.”

“And are you sure about this?”

He motions for you to follow him, and reluctantly you, Scott, and Liam follow him to a large painting of two large supernatural creatures fighting. “The one on the rigid beast of Gevaudan. Do you know what the other one is?”

“A hellhound,” you respond. “They are meant to be guardians for supernatural places.”

“So you did learn some things at that fancy boarding school,” Gerard says, sounding impressed. “They’re both creatures of the night. But you may know them as ordinary people during the day, and most likely neither of them knows what they are.”

Scott and Liam share a look that doesn’t go unnoticed. “What is it?”

“We discovered a message in Latin... dannatio memoriae.”

Gerard says slowly, “They want it to remember itself.”

Your uncle nods in agreement, “then it might give us time.”

“Time for what?”

“To prevent this,” he kicks at the slabs covering the painting on the wall to reveal the bottom half of it. In the bottom half, everyone was dead.

—

“So should I start calling you Mini or Junior Sourwolf?”

You shove Stiles in the arm playfully and say, “Stop it, so who else is coming?”

“Obviously, Scott,” you scoff at his remark.The McCall pack was slowly starting to come back together, and everyone was meeting in the McCall household. “Malia, Kira, and Liam.”

Scott enters the room and places a bag containing blueprints of Eichen House on the table. The pack was meeting to plan on how to get Lydia back, even if it meant breaking her out.

[rebelrobin86]

Platonic Stobin Month

(Prompt list by @lesbianancyy)

Part 1

1999 (My intro)

Robin and Steve were wearing fancy suits, sitting on the floor of an elevator. Steve groaned. "We're missing the wedding, because we're stuck in a stupid elevator!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have panicked and pushed every button like 100 times!"

"At least it's not the Russian Elevator, could be worse. It's crazy, if I never took that job at Scoops Ahoy, we wouldn't be here right now."

"You think you'd be sitting here with some other shmuck? Do you remember meeting me at all before Hawkins High?" Robin asked, Steve looked confused.

"I know it was never something we really talked about, but I still remember."

Alternate Meeting (Robin)

"I had just had soccer practise. The goalie Beth Wildfire said there's no way a klutz like me would ever stay on the team."

"The one who's bone came out of her knee?" Steve laughed seeing the irony.

"Yeah it was before then. The girls were all having this stupid sleepover, that I didn't even really want to go to, but I was the only one not invited. I had a crumpled dollar in my pocket, then went into Benny's Burgers for fries, but it wasn't enough."

"That sucks."

"Yeah well I was about to go home, but then you recognised me from middle school, you invited me over to sit with you and your friends." Robin smiled. "You yelled at Tommy for saying girls can't play soccer, then we went outside. I stole almost all your fries before going home."

Steve laughed. "I always wondered who fry girl was. She was a lot more interesting than my other friends. I started to question if she was even real or if I made her up."

"You never know I could be your imaginary friend, I might still be." Robin teased.

Snow (Steve)

"Speaking of imaginary, you remember the Snowmogorgon?" Steve asked.

"Yeah?" Robin laughed.

"That was crazy. The kids were playing D&D and we told them about the snow and this Demogorgon snowman. The Snowmogorgon, that was this big scary monster they had to defeat. Do you think they thought it was real?"

"I don't think so, which I don't get because the Demogorgon was real, but a snowman monster is too unrealistic. We definitely are the best monster fighters."

90s (Robin)

"Do you think Buffy The Vampire Slayer could have taken on Vecna or the Mind Flayer? A Demogorgon could be easy for her if she lit one of those stakes on fire."

"I don't know Rob." Steve replied. "Buffy's a Vampire Slayer, the closest we had to vampires was the Demobats."

"Yeah but she's fought so many other demons and monsters, not just vampires. We'll have to ask Max, it was her favourite show." Robin shrugged.

"I'm just glad, Max is over her Scream phase. I hated when she wore her Ghostface mask everywhere and called us to ask what our favourite scary movies were in that voice."

"Oh like." Robin imitated the voice "What's your favourite scary movie?"

"Never do that again." Steve laughed.

Friendship Jewellery (Steve)

Steve looked down at the rainbow bracelet he was wearing, then looked at Robin's matching bracelet.

"You think we'll have to take these off before the wedding?" Steve asked.

"No. We can't ever take these off, best friends for life. The nuggets will know."

"You're always going to call my daughters nuggets now? I did ask for it when I told you I dreamt about 6 little nuggets, 4 more to go." Steve smiled. "They were so happy making the bracelets for us."

"I never thought me and Steve Harrington would wear friendship bracelets, but I can't say no to them, they're too adorable."

Monster/Ghost Hunters (Robin)

"They do love when Auntie Robin comes over to play with them." Steve smiled. "It's not easy explaining you're here for me and not them."

"Shut up! Of course I'm there for the girls. It's fun playing Monster Hunters with them." Robin laughed. "Running around the house with pretend shot guns and molotov cocktails and blasting Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush to defeat the monster."

"I don't really like that game. Not because of what happened, but Max has played that song to death! Always." Steve starts singing in a muppet voice "Be Running up that road, be Running up that hill, be running up that building!"

"Why did Tammy Thompson sing it?" Robin laughed. "No I love the song, not just because it saved our friends life, but how much it annoys you when me and the munchkins play it."

Worms (Steve)

Steve pulls out a pack of gummy worms candy from his pocket, then starts eating them. "I just remembered I had these."

"Gummy Worms!" Robin excitedly took a handful of the gummy worms and started eating them. "Thanks Steve."

"They were Henderson's, but he's not in the elevator right now."

Scoops Ahoy (Robin)

"Do you remember my board at Scoops Ahoy, you rule, you suck? I wish I still had that. This might be a first for the you rule column." Robin laughed. "We may be stuck here, but you got us candy."

Confession (Steve)

"Robin. I have a confession to make about Scoops Ahoy." Steve said.

"What?"

"You know when I told Dustin not to lick my scooper, before you got us the map."

"Steve, I saw you lick the scooper. I just never said anything because it wasn't my scooper. I'm sure you had more free samples than Erica."

"Yeah probably." Steve laughed. "The USS Butterscotch was out of this world!"

Outfit swap (Robin)

"Do you remember when we were bored, we swapped uniforms and name tags at work?" Robin asked.

"Yeah a lot of customers didn't question why my name tag said Robin, but you got a lot of strange looks."

"You don't think I look like a Steve?"

"Definitely not. You need to be a lot cooler to pull off a name like mine."

"Hey!" Robin laughed, playfully pushing him.

Double Date (Steve)

"After the wedding. Do you want to go on a double date? Just us four." Steve asked.

"Yeah and we can eat something better than gummy worms." Robin rambled. "Not that gummy worms aren't good, but I don't think Nancy would like them or your wife either. Our ladies have fancy tastes."

"I could've gone for a Mcdonalds or KFC, but you're probably right. We'll save that for another time, but for now boothes and waiters. If you're interested?"

"Yeah it will be fun, if we ever get out of this elevator!" 

[nobodysdaydreams]

❓ any WIP snippet you want! 😍 published lines or a section of a fic that you loved writing?

Not going to overload things at this point!! (But, mayhaps later...)

I hope you are having a good day <3

I am! Always nice to hear from you Sophie. I hope you enjoy these!

❓Any snippet I want? Very well. Here's a little teaser I like to call: "Giving the people what they want".

Curtain arrived at his office and pulled himself together just in time to be joined by his lunch guest.

“Where do you want her sir?” asked one of the greys, shoving Miss. Perumal forward.

“Oh, there’s no need for such roughness Cynthia, though I appreciate the precautions,” answered Curtain. “Please, undo those handcuffs. Miss. Perumal, it is so lovely to meet you, please allow me to apologize for all this chaos. May I call you Dipika?”

“No, you may not,” answered Miss. Perumal, sizing up her opponent.

More organized than Mr. Benedict, meticulous to a fault it would seem, in fact their styles seemed almost like night and day, likely a source of conflict between them in their youth.

Dipika glanced around the room and notice that Curtain's office had a dining table set for two with a freshly prepared meal waiting.

Curtain noticed her staring at the table behind him.

“Ah, very perceptive,” he noted. “Yes, I was hoping to get to know you better, explain things over a nice lunch. After your journey you must be famished, and I’d hate to be an inhospitable host.”

Explaining things over a meal. It was the same offer Mr. Benedict and his friends had given her when she met them in the woods.

“I don’t suppose I have a choice, do I?” Dipika asked.

😍I might have already posted about this, but I loved writing these SOS lines, so I'm posting it again. I think it's pretty self-explanatory, I love character parallels!

Constance silently took the remote and turned off the television, still staring at the screen so that Curtain’s face was replaced with her own when the screen went black.

“I remind you of him,” she said finally, after a moment’s pause. “Don’t I?”

“Who?” asked Nicholas.

“Nathaniel,” she replied.

Nicholas didn’t respond, stunned by the shock of hearing his brother’s name come out of someone’s mouth other than his own.

“That was his name,” said Constance, “wasn’t it? Before he called himself Curtain.”

“Well…um, yes,” Nicholas admitted, “but how did-”

“You called me that. Just now,” Constance explained, “when you were talking to me about chess.”

“Oh,” said Nicholas slowly, as he realized the gravity of his mistake.

“Well,” he continued awkwardly, taking a seat next to his roommate. “I… I didn’t realize that, and I’m deeply sorry about that Constance. I never meant to imply any kind of similarity, it’s just that…in many ways you children remind me of the way that he used to be. Kate at times can be just as independent and headstrong as he was, and Reynie and Sticky, each in their own ways, often remind me of my brother and of myself at that age. I believe my brother thought so as well, and the boys and I have had some discussions about that-”

“But it’s different with me,” Constance interrupted, “isn’t it?”

Nicholas looked back at his roommate’s knowing stare and wasn’t sure what to say.

Truthfully, it was different. Constance sometimes acted so similar to the way his brother had, almost identically in fact, but Nicholas had never thought that was a bad thing. If anything, she reminded Nicholas of who his brother really was, the sort of person he could become again. He hadn’t meant it to imply that Constance was in danger of becoming like Curtain, in fact the very idea sounded so absurd the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.  

“Perhaps,” Nicholas admitted, “but only in the best of ways Constance. You remind me of the good person my brother once was-”

“He’s not a good person!” Constance objected, “That’s why no one wanted to adopt him. That’s why he started the Emergency. That’s why he goes on television and spreads lies about us.”

“My brother,” Nicholas replied hesitantly, beginning to feel overwhelmed, “has been through a lot-”

“You still blame yourself,” Constance noted, “It isn’t your fault he’s so awful. He made his own choices.”

Nicholas sighed and hung his head, unsure of how to continue.

The two sat in silence for a minute before Constance spoke again.

“Is that why you wanted to adopt me?”

Nicholas looked up at her.

“As a way to make up for leaving him? Or because you wish you could go back and change what happened?”

Nicholas wasn’t sure how to answer that question. A large part of him said no, that he loved Constance, and would always love her as his daughter, even if she never thought of him as her family, simply because she, all by herself, was so wonderful. And she deserved to feel loved, and safe, and special.

But there was a smaller, more sinister voice inside of Nicholas that smirked at the thought.

“Please,” it said, “as if this isn’t just another pathetic attempt to make up for your guilt. Even the girl can see right through it. And you call her wonderful, as if you actually cared about her, when you know that if she was in Nathaniel's place all those years ago, you would have left her too.”

Nicholas wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to argue with the voice, to say that that wasn’t true, or that it was a hypothetical scenario they would never have the answer to that didn’t matter anyway, but… he just couldn’t. After all, he had left his own brother. Who’s to say he wouldn’t disappoint this child too? Maybe he really was that horrible.

Thanks for the ask; I hope you're having a lovely evening!

[selfparasbym]

flowers for a ghost

“You disappear with all your good intentions And all I am is all I could not mention”

The day Lucy and Max ended things would forever be the worse day of her life, and she was certain she went home and cried so hard she almost stopped breathing. which resulted in her sucking in her breathe and tears so hard she would gasp, and vomit. The way she was handling everything even though she knew it was a great deal her part, and everything that came with her lifestyle came her so much anxiety that there was no way she would have been a good wife for him. But she loved him.  

Those first six months after the break up, she spend all her time doing school, and working for some doctor she found to be overbearing.  “Like who will bring me flowers when it's over And who will give me comfort when it's cold” Once she had graduated school she got a teaching job right away, and the doctor who had once been her boss made it very clear he was interested in her. The whole relationship felt speedy; they started dating on a crisp January evening, he took her to Boston to meet her family in March, in convinced her ever so sweetly to begin converting to reformed Judaism in April, he proposed in August, and they were married in the temple in October. Being married so quickly wasn’t exactly because she was in love, she told herself she could be in love, but he made her feel so afraid to be alone that she needed someone to take care of her. 

“She took a plane to somewhere out in space To start a life and maybe change the world”

Three years after the date she and Max broke up she found herself laying in the bed she shared with her husband, who she had celebrated an anniversary with a few weeks prior. “You’ve been throwing up so much, Luce. You’re going to end up being nothing but tits soon,” Christopher told her as he sat on the edge of their bed putting on his shoes. 

”I’m pregnant,” she breathed out. “I was going to tell you in a really cute way but every time i’d plan something you’d end up working late.”

”You’re having my baby?” he questioned moving closer to her to press a kiss to her head. “My parents are going to be so excited, my child bride is making them grandparents again,” Lucy hated when her in-laws called her that, she was twelve years younger then her husband and they acted like she was a baby.  “See I never meant for you to have to crawl No I never meant to let you go at all”

The entire pregnancy Christopher had been the most dotting husband, always calling her between surgeries, and skipping out on work functions to take care of her. She was 18 weeks at this point, and she was waiting for both the ultrasound tech and her husband to show up. In quiet moments like this she always found herself wondering what Max would do in these situations, and what he would think about it all. But then Christopher would show back up, and she would remind herself that he was her husband and she was meant to love him. 

”How’s my baby?” he questioned his hands moving to her stomach. “I can’t wait to see their little face,” his hands moved out of the way as the ultrasound tech began to move the wand against her stomach. “It looks like a girl so far.”

“I don’t want to know,” Lucy reminded him with a chuckle. 

“Lucy that’s crazy. It will be easier if we know, the surprise is a bit outdated,” he said as he watched the ultrasound. “Our baby Zoey.”

“I just like Zoe. I thought we decided if it was a girl her name would be Zoe Kate.”

“No, we decided we’d call her Zoe, but her legal name would be Zoey,” which couldn’t have been further from the truth, and she knew his mother most likely made it clear how much she adored the name Zoey. 

“Don't ever say goodbye”

Of course her little glimpse of all her dreams coming true seemed to be crashing down around her quickly. “She’s such an active little girl,” Lucy said with a smile as she got comfortable in the passenger seat of their car following a get together her husband’s co-worker had thrown. “I’m so tired though.”

”Good. She’s healthy,” Christopher pointed out as he started towards their house. “I think my mother is going to come stay with us for the first few months to help with the baby.” 

”Oh, I just thought that maybe it would be just us for the first few months, us and Zoe.”

”Lucy neither of us know how to raise a baby. I still have to work even after the baby is born, and my mom can help us,” she was about to beg him to not let his mother come stay with him about the time they were going through an intersection and a drunk driver ran a red light hitting Lucy’s side of the car perfectly.  See my head aches from all this thinkin' “Feels like a ship god, god knows I'm sinkin'”

Lucy felt like it was a sick joke that she lost her baby twenty two weeks into her pregnancy because someone was careless. The first few days home she wasn’t sure she even left bed, until she finally forced herself on day three to get out of bed to get a glass of water. She walked past the nursery that was going to be Zoe’s where she found Christopher, she had thought he was having a moment of grief when she walked in wrapping her arms around his body. 

”I have someone coming for the crib today,” he told her which caused her heart to drop. “My friend from work said she wanted the baby clothes, she found out she was having a girl today. My mom said she’d take the sign with Zoe’s name on it to put in her house on her wall dedicated to her grandchildren.”

”Why are you doing this?” Lucy questioned as he arms dropped. “It’s been three days, and I’m not ready for any of this.”

”Lucy, if I waited until you were emotionally ready for this, or honestly for anything I’d waste so much time,” he bluntly told her. “I’m not going to let you mope around some nursery for my daughter when we both have a lives to live, and you can grieve but i’m not going to let you grieve in unhealthy ways in my house.”

”It’s our house,” she whispered. “And i’m just not ready. I don’t want to get rid of her stuff, and I don’t this to become some boring guest room.” 

”Lucy, I love you but a teacher’s salary can’t afford this house. Five bedrooms and five baths, two living rooms, a nice kitchen for you to make dry snickerdoodles in, and a nice backyard on a teacher’s salary is a trailer house,” Christopher told her which caused her to cry, which caused him to feel bad. “Baby, you know I didn’t mean it. I’m just grieving in my own way, but I can’t let you drowned in this.” “Wonder what you do and where it is you stay”

Six months after they lost Zoe, Lucy found herself sitting on the edge of the bathtub taking a pregnancy test which was positive. She was so scared of what if it hurt too bad to have another baby after everything with Zoe, but before she could even find herself hoping for this baby she had another miscarriage. 

She laid in the cold hospital room, as her husband came down from surgery. “Lucy, we should really look into birth control,” he paused. “You know I’m allergic to latex so condoms aren’t the best option, and the latex free ones are weird,” he sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll be late tonight, I’m teaching a night class,” he leaned over pressing a kiss to her head as the tears began to form. “I’ll have your dad come pick you up.” 

“These questions like a whirlwind, they carry me away Who will bring me flowers when it's over”

”You know I mind my business,” Joshua Hadley told his daughter as they drove from the hospital to the Bien house. “But Goose your mother had five miscarriages in the eight years between you and Beau, and I never once left her side.”

”Dad, it’s different,” she shook her head. “He has a class he’s teaching, and he can’t just cancel it for this. Then tomorrow he’s flying out to Boston to see his parents, and I just know he would be here if he wasn’t so busy.”

”Lucy Katherine, I want you to have the greatest love story of all time, and I just don’t know if it’s with Christopher,” he told her hoping she would come to her senses. 

”He’s my husband, and I love him.”  “And who will give me comfort when it's cold Who will I belong to when the day just won't give in”

Four years into their marriage, and five years since she had last seen Max, and she found herself at a conference with Christopher. While he spent his hours in workshops, and with friends she lounged around the pool, when she noticed her boobs weren’t quite fitting her bathing suit the same way. She took a pregnancy test, and was over joyed when she got the positive results. 

”Hi,” she told him as he walked into the hotel room. “I’m pregnant again,” she was overjoyed and excepted this grand moment where he would also be elated that they were having a baby.

”Lucy, why do you keep doing this to yourself?” he questioned. “Your doctor has told you numerous times that your body, he said you’d need numerous medical producers to help carry a baby after everything that happened with my Zoe,” he scoffed. “I’m not trying to be mean I just know it’s not healthy for you.”

”But, we’re having a baby again,” she said as she felt the tears start to form in her eyes. 

”The crying act might have worked on Garrett or Max, or any of your other little boyfriends, but it’s getting old,” he leaned against the doorframe. “My mother said that are childish, and that’s the reason you can’t seem to carry a baby. She said that the universe knows you’d be too immature to parent, and that they are saving some poor baby from that.” 

“Why would you tell me that?” Lucy questioned as she sat down on the bed. 

“Because I love you, and I want you to know that not everyone is meant to be a mother.” 

“And who will tell me how it ends and how it all begins”

When they heard the baby’s heartbeat she was certain that this time they were going to get their happy ending. But three days after that appointment, she found herself once again in a cold hospital bed. 

”Where have you been?” She questioned as Christopher walked through the doors. “I’ve been here, and alone, and I’ve scared.”

”Lucy, you are a grown adult I can’t hold your hand every single time you miscarry. I had to work,” he told her, which his tone was quickly changed about the time the doctor walked through the door. 

”Dr. Bien,” The doctor said. “Mrs. Bien I am so sorry to hear about your loss.” 

”Dr. Fletcher, I just worry so much about my wife, and I know this can’t be good for her body,” he said as he moved his fingers through Lucy’s hair. “I just don’t want something to happen to her.”

”Well, there is options, and I would suggest if you really want a baby to start looking into other options, or we can run more test to see what exactly is causing the problem; she’s young, and healthy there’s no reason we can’t fix what’s going on.”

”I just don’t want her to get hurt again,” Christopher told the doctor. “I know after I lost my daughter I was devested for months.”

”Our daughter,” Lucy whispered.  “Don't ever say goodbye I'm only human”

Three months following the last miscarriage, Lucy stood in the kitchen making his lunch. “I made sure to meal prep a few nights of dinners for while I was gone,” she looked at Christopher who was spreading cream cheese on a bagel. 

“Babe, I’m a grown man, I know how to cook,” he let out a chuckle. “But you're sweet,” he had this way of being the most charming man when she was about to leave, or when they were around friends and family, or even strangers. “Have fun, and enjoy yourself.”

“You know today Zoe would have been two if she had been born on her due date,” Lucy told him as she snapped the lid closed on a glass tupperware dish. “I want to start fertility treatments when I get home.”

“Lucy, I just don’t want to do this with you again,” he took a deep breath. “My mother is coming to visit once you get home, then we have a gala soon, and we just don’t have time for a baby right now,” he explained. “And it’s just not going to happen.”

Lucy nodded opting not to fight as she put the tupperware in the fridge. “I love you, and I will see you when I get home.”

“I love you too, Lucy Bien.”